Tomb of Horrors: Finale

After one final strike, the floating skull shatters and falls to the floor motionless.

Could this be yet another trick from this cursed tomb?

Is it really destroyed?

After some time, the silence in the tomb and lack of motion from the skull seem to indicate that this was indeed the final enemy in this place.

Among the objects lying about the skull can be found the following:

Ninety-seven 10 gp gems and three huge gems (a 1,000 gp peridot, a 5,000 gp emerald, and a 10,000 gp black opal).

Gems set in the skull: two jewels set into the eye sockets (5,000 gp rubies) and 6 pointed (marquis cut) diamonds set as teeth in the jaw (each diamond worth 500 gp).

Three potions of cure serious wounds, one potion of heroism, two oils of keen edge, two potions of fly and a potion of greater magic fang.

Two scrolls of command, one scroll of slow, one scroll of arcane eye, one scroll of shatter, one scroll of scorching ray, one scroll of dispel evil, one scroll of Melf’s acid arrow, and one scroll of power word kill.

A ring of feather falling

A lesser rod of silent metamagic

A staff of fire

A +3 defending greatsword

A cursed backbiter spear that at first appears to magic identification to be a +3 spear

And two –2 cursed longswords that at first appear to identify as +3 longswords.

A pair of goggles of lifesight (see Libris Mortis, page 78).

A wrapped tower (see Libris Mortis, page 76).

And finally, a shadow pearl floating above a pedestal. Removing the pearl from the pedestal disrupts the field of wild magic, allowing all forms of magic to function as normal once again within the tomb but drains the one who removed it from the pedestal of 1d6 points of ability drain to each ability score, drains 1d6 spells of each spell level prepared (or slots for spontaneous casters), drains 50% of any remaining power points, unmelds 1d6 soulmelds, and the victim cannot use supernatural or spell-like abilities for one hour (there is no save against these effects and each drain effect can be restored by magic that restores drained ability scores). Any other actions against the pedestal (such as attempting to take the pedestal with the pearl intact or removing the pearl by a mage hand) also takes down the field of wild magic and drains the one doing so.

---End

Tomb of Terror-ECL 13-Erimar Neirdre-1 Marshal/12 Truenamer-Entry 8

    The mystery deepens. I feel like I was involved in a personally traumatic incident recently but it is like the dim memory of a childhood trauma.
    We finally made a breakthrough using a combination of deductive reasoning and carefully worded divinations. We not only found a work around to the wild magic curse but also gained guidance to avoid the misty portals.
   The mind behind this area is definitely devious. Room after room of magical traps. Doors and corridors that loop back on themselves.
   More and more powerful demons attack every time we teleport.

Tomb of Terror-ECL 12-Erimar Neirdre-1 Marshal/11 Truenamer-Entry 7

After an exhausting fight with demons, we tried dispelling the mist portal and searched the room we could see but never get to. There was nothing except when I tried to leave, the room stripped me of all of my possessions. I was quite stunned.

Savage Tide/ Tomb of Horrors:ECL13 Acontium Bane: Sorcerer 6 Swiftblade 6 Swordsage 1: Entry 11

We opened the last chamber of pyramid we were in, filling it with the water from the room we were in. Suddenly we could hear a loud screeching and something splashing around.. it is looking for a dry place and were already here waiting for it.
As soon as it poked it centepidish head out of the hole we hit it with everything we had ready.... but barley even a scratch to it! Every time we struck it, we could catch a sighting of a Gods face, the face of the idol outside. So we tactically withdrew from the chambers with it in tow... chasing down some of the druid's summoned monsters to slow it down. With everyone evacuated from the temple and the truenamer and mages rushing off to stop the divine link between the god and the creature, I waited at the top with the gnome... it was our job to keep it there until something could work.
I don't know much more other than they severed the link of the idol.... I was given the "sign" from the gnome that they did something with it, so I charged it once I seen it pop up to the final level.
I must have hit it so hard that it sent the creature into a shock that it was not protected by it's god any longer. That's all it took was one massive hit, and the creature fell dead........ I could hear faint sounds of a god yelling in the background (O.O.C.: Brian failed a massive damage saving through and cursed his dice!)
It happened so fast, I didn't want the god to  bring it back to life so I cut off the head of it. Once I could hear the group returning a few moments later, I put the severed head on my mace and poked it outside the temple like a puppet lol. It was glorious.
The rest of the party went below to look for things in the room, but I knew what had to be done, or so I thought.... I flew as fast as I could and put my mace to that idol while the god had no sight to it. It erupted like a meteor striking the ground. But then the waters came!
We got the group together and teleported our butts out of there since the barrier had collapsed preventing us from teleporting earlier.
We made it back to town, took some R&R, collected our money from Lavinia, and got word of another shadow pearl. The group didn't waist too much time and set out for the new shadow pearl. I was not really feeling it and wanted a vacation. So I decided since it was on my way to join them for a night... oh man was that a bad idea for me. I was almost crushed, squeezed, and trapped in a small box. it doesn't help that I am so big now that I can barely fit in some of the spaces. And at the end of it, it shunts you out of the place after so much time in there... so I said I'm out and went out on my vacation.

I don't know what all the group is doing, all I know is that I have been enjoying the sun on the beach, floating in the water, and I love this life style. First few day are amazing, then it goes to great, then it starts to loose its luster... I think I'm missing the bloodshed and crazy I have come so used to. So I think my vacation is over, I will head back to the group and see what has come of them.... All this time I have forgotten about the threat of Orcus.... and I wonder if he had forgotten me.... I can only be so lucky if that's the case.

Tomb of Terror-ECL 12-Erimar Neirdre-1 Marshal/11 Truenamer-Entry 6

Return to the Tomb.
     We returned to Acererak's Tomb to find the Shadow Pearl after our initial investigation went so poorly. We were able to build on our initial foray and found several correlations between the riddle we found at the entrance and areas in the complex. After some mishaps with a panic inducing cloud and a hall full of webs, we found a disruption mace just in time to defend ourselves from the Lich Acererak itself! After a short battle the lich fell to the power of the artifact and the room we were in started to collapse and we were able to get out with out lives.
     By some strange effect linked to the tomb and teleportation magic, demons appeared at the entrance and we are dealing with them now....

Savage Tide: ECL 13 Garrik von Keizer Wizard 13; Ninth Entry

          Been some time since I had time to write down in this old thing. So much to do and so little time. At this age what time you have left is too valuable to waste, but i have naught else to do while we prepare to find the last of those damnable Pearls.

          I believe I will start off by stating that I have no idea this group survived with out me. For what is the first time being with them we actually needed a proper Cleric not a religious scholar. Not to sound too crass, he has been very valuable in the past. I shouldn't bee to troubled by it though. I doubt he prepared for the divine magic needed to defeat the monster we faced at the bottom of that crude ziggurat. Lucky I did, in a way.

          The wonders of the Arcane never cease to fill me with wonder as I had when I was a small boy. Such a small act really, manipulating the energies of the self proclaimed divine into mine own Arcane powers, albeit to a limited extent. Using this reality bending to my groups benefit could have cost me my life in the process.

          While they were fighting a aspect of Demogorgon, which was protected by Demogorgon due to the natives god statue being corrupted causing all attacks to be ineffective, I realized what I needed to do. By one of the greatest coincidences of the Cosmos, Erimar and I were talking about this very scenario the night before and had developed a plan in case it came down to it. From what I hear, once I released it from its protection, it was obliterated in quite the fortunate strike by our spellblade. What I saw was completely different. Three massive cosmic guardians appeared around me. For reasons I can only surmise they did not obliterate me instantly. Instead, as a show of power, they shunted me forward in time roughly twenty minutes. Although the Undead of our group sought to repay me for bringing him back from the dead with gold, that is empirically not a equivalent exchange. It is he I need to thank however. Were he to not insist that the group wait I have no doubt I would have died in that pit. My spell book with Erimar as to not get ruined, no spells prepared for surviving or escaping. I wonder if I would have just Disintegrated myself. I suppose that he would been pleased to hear that we are now truly even.

DM Post: Sage Advice about Permanency vs Dispel

This sage advice is from Dragon 317 page 104 (under the D&D 3.5 ruleset) but for some reason was not put into the Official D&D 3.5 FAQ. It is, however, official content.

What happens when a personal, permanent spell effect is dispelled? For example, a wizard uses the permanency spell and pays 1,000 xp to make a darkvision spell permanent on herself. If an enemy spellcaster successfully dispels the darkvision spell, does the darkvision effect return after 1d4 rounds, as it would if the wizard were using a magic item?

No, when a permanent spell is dispelled, the effect is gone. If the wizard in your example wants another permanent darkvision effect, she has to cast darkvision and permanency again and spend another 1,000 xp.

Savage Tide: ECL 11 Guinet Westenwold gnome illusionist 3, master specialist 4, shadowcraft mage 4: Journal 4

You know, I had basically reconstructed my memories and identity (as one does) after waking up in a demon's satchel in a cave with basically none of those (as one does); and it happened very quickly, so much so that I basically stopped writing any of them down so much as vaguely alluding to them in an inside-joke sort of way that only I would get (this being my diary, after all)...  If it was so easy to remember everything, well, the need to keep notes must not be as dire as I first thought, right?  But I find I kind of enjoy writing these, so, hey, let's keep going.

But what I discovered in the Planck time¹ it took for us to transition back out of the Astral is that I actually, very literally did not remember seeing the sun.  I may as well have lived my entire life in a notably execrable cavern.  If you don't think that would have a detrimental effect on your psychology, your flippant attitude has left me tempted to recommend the experience to you.  On the other hand, if you aren't the person from the previous postulate, I can actually recommend the experience plus the exit transition.  'Cause, let me tell you, it's transformative, I feel amazing.  Let me get back to you after I have a bath, if I haven't transcended.

But it's not time for baths, yet, evidently.  First it's debriefing, with a Lady Lavinia Vanderboren my new gang is employed by, and with whom I've just realized I have not yet secured similar employment.  (Yep, might as well.  Not going back north.)  She seems nice.  She's in charge of this place, a real frontier woman, at least as human nobles go.  I can't quite comprehend why anyone would pick this particular frontier to be in rear of, but they're making a really good go of it.

Still not entirely sure what's going on.  I should ask more questions, but everyone seems so full of purpose and certainty and I suspect they're all just playing along with the one guy who actually knows, so I fell in step.  At the very least, I believe I have determined that they settled this area before the business with demonic cults and evil superweapons.  Yeah, you got to stand up for what's yours, even when what's yours is some hastily built cottages that are only marginally more hospitable than the surrounding jungle, and then only because lately the bloodsucking insects are also extraplanar.

Help me, I'm slipping.  It's not really that bad.  The place is actually pretty charming.  I'm just getting slightly testy because I'm still in this waiting room and they still haven't told me where I can get a decent bath.

1. Planck time, as you might be, but probably aren't wondering, has nothing to do with Max Planck or the speed of light.  Planck was the name of a gnome in the Corusk Mountains who theorized the minimum duration in which a reasonable gnome can accomplish anything meaningful.  He said it was about six seconds.  His theory is not well known or, indeed, known of at all; Guinet knew him personally.

Savage tides: Black Rose ecl 13 Rog12/Swrdsage1, post 1

Today I had a nice surprise waiting for me at work. One of the owner’s kin was in the office today

It was a big surprise especially he had been assumed dead. I have had good dealings with him in the past and knew him from my youth. So, I was very glad to see him. After a while of catching up he informed me of his current events. He shared with me the magnitude of the spoils from his journeys. I was floored. My wings were almost paralyzed. I think he noticed, and quickly informed me that he would no longer be traveling with them and would like to find someone to take his place. My eyes began to shift about the room to see if anyone else had heard, with my hand firmly on my chain. He continued about warning of grave danger and of dangers past. I had to stop him before anyone else overheard.

I told him he had found what he was looking for and that I would go. ” counting on our past and or work history to sway him from looking elsewhere” he agreed that I would be a good fit. And with the shake of a finger the deal was struck. I would accompany him back to Farshore. my new life would begin

Savage tides: Black Rose Ecl 13 Rog12/Swrdsage1 Bio

Black Rose, at 1 ½’ tall he was a beast of a pedal at least in spirit. With Hair shaped like a dark flower that gave him his name, he towered over none but the tiniest of creatures. He was not often bullied by most things larger than him especially in school. Aided by his natural abilities and his brothers most formidable foes would just fell sleep and woke up in very unbeneficial circumstances. Whether it be shoes missing finding themselves relocated to the garbage hole, folks learned fast if you going to mess with them, you got to catch them alone. “after a few good beat downs” Black Rose learned to be more aware and crafty when he was off by himself. Defending himself against such large creatures as small human children is no easy task,” insert montage here” but with practice he managed to learn to whoop them as good as any pedal would a hamster.

The trouble of youth faded for Black Rose and his future stood before him. He felt no place working in a store, office or other establishment that folks would just spend all day talking and writing. The smell of fresh air, the challenge of the unknown… this is what he craved. So, for the last 20 years or so he has been working as a mercenary scouting and guarding anything that pays him. He gets most of his work escorting Copper shipments. It is not glorious but he lives a good life

Savage tides: ECL 12 Mograin WL2/Clrc3/EldDspl6/HlFireWlk1 blog 1

My Journey to Farshore which started over 15 years ago, has been a long one……. All those night entombed in stone almost drove me mad. Once released form my stone prison the memories of the past years faded into a blur almost as if I had been reborn.  I found myself with a group of travelers ironically heading to the same place and almost following in my footsteps…….to my glorious benefit…… while I adjust to my new Pardon from my torment I aided them with all my might, and in repaying my debt to the group the sailors and the pilgrims I almost forgot why I was in this predicament in the first place.

“I am going to Farshore father” those words almost spelled my doom but I came here to set up a new life and enrich the family and our business. my great fortunes have not ended, as if repayment for all those years staring at those basilisks watching them live their horrible little lives’. a strange deck of cards we found in a dungeon has altered my future forever……. now with a keep befitting a lord a new home, and rank as a hero of Farshore.  I will settle down and finish what I started all those years ago.

I Have found new hope in Kord he has shown me the way and repaid my anguish I will erect a temple in his honor and show the world how far is his reach Never in my life will I be able to turn away any of those who gave me aid, they were sent by divine appointment. They will always find rest food and aide….  Perhaps someday they will join me in residence at Farshore and we can grow old clinging to faded memories of conquest ravaged by time itself……

Through divination and omens it has been revealed to me that greater dangers lay in wait for the group

So, I will travel to my home near Sasserine not only to reunite with my family and share the good news, but we employed many mercenaries and have powerful allies’ I will seek out one to stand in my spot as I fade behind the curtain everyday life.

I will ask the archivist to carry me home once more then it seems it will be mundane travel from here on out…

Savage Tide: ECL12 Acontum Bane: Sorcerer 6 Swiftblade 6: Entry 10

And as we expected, the Pyramid was crawling with Naga. Without their sheep with them, they were slow until some of them took off into the air. I didn't even think twice.... more like four times because I'm twice as fast as everyone else lol.
Well anyways we stormed the pyramid to dispatch the Naga, and then I noticed something at the top... The naga were not flying away but looked like they were trying to open something. When I flew over the top of them, I noticed they were trying to stand on four switches to open the Pyramid. I took a few hits to rush myself over and stand on the switch... I don't know what is in there but we didn't need any of them getting more help. Well this fight was nothing more than another fight... and we quickly dispatched them.
Since nothing opened the pyramid, we decided to retreat back to a safe distance to gather our strength before going into the pyramid.
We stand around the pyramid, dropping naga bodies onto the pressure switches...... and we wait to see what is inside.

Savage Tide: Lightless Depths; ECL 12 Garrik von Keizer Wizard 12; Eighth Entry

          In a few moments we will face a most dread opponent and the source of the Pearls that cause a unpalatable affliction. Once we get the water out of that room we can move forward and be rid of this place. I am quite ready to sleep in an actual bed.

Savage Tide: ECL 12 Erimar Neirdre-Fey'ri Marshal 1/Truenamer 11:Entry 5

The Dread lords...it seemed such a straight forward goal. Find and defeat the dread lords to stop the production of the shadow pearls. Now, there seems to be the possibility of restoring a city back to Aboleth control. The lesser of two evils i suppose, but it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. As as last resort, i will stay behind and destroy every aboleth i can find to minimize the impact of their return, IF that becomes likely.
In the mean time, our time in this strange city may be shorter than we had thought. The forces guarding the outside of the ziggurat have fallen, and we have overcome the commander, Ulioth(as named by the trog we questioned).  We have found the crystal geodes that the the pearls are formed in and we need to find and dismantle the site of their creation.

DM Entry: Shadowcraft Mage DM Rulings

The following DM rulings will appear in the Aryathan Jiil Campaign Setting.pdf soon. But these rulings take effect immediately. All of these deal with the Shadowcraft Mage and more specifically the Shadow Illusion class ability.

Apocryphal Shadow Miracles: You can indeed select the Dweomer, Fortune, Hope, Luck, or Zeal domain for your Arcane Disciple feat, adding miracle to your class list. This only adds it to your class list. Arcane Disciple, however, does not actually make miracle a sorcerer or wizard spell, thus not qualifying for the shadow illusion class feature of the shadowcraft mage. So no shadow illusion miracles.

Shadow Summoning: Any creature you conjure with a shadow illusion obeys the normal rules for the Summoning subschool. Thus the shadow-summoned creature obeys this rule: “A summoned creature cannot use any innate summoning abilities it may have, and it refuses to cast any spells that would cost it XP, or to use any spell-like abilities that would cost XP if they were spells.” Spells cast by your shadow-illusion-summoned creature follows the Iterated Illusions entry, below.

The Quasireality Magnitude Apogee: The shadow illusion class ability has an absolute maximum of 90% reality, regardless of any modifiers. If you whine because you cannot have an illusion that is 125% real, your character just died….just now. No…seriously…it really did. Start rolling up a new character. And please don’t cry, it’s embarrassing. Do you need a baby aspirin?

Iterated Illusions: As an extension of the Summoning subschool rules, no summoned or shadow-illusion-summoned creature can use any summoning effect. 

Disbelieving Shadow Buffs: If you create a shadow illusion of mage armor or any other buffing spell, the recipient benefactor is not the one who makes a save to disbelieve the effect. The enemy the effect is used against, or who interacts with the effect, is the one who makes the save to disbelieve. Thus if you cast a shadow illusion mage armor on yourself, your belief is irrelevant. It is only when successfully attacked by an enemy that the enemy has a chance to disbelieve the spell. Likewise, a shadow illusion that enhances an ability score of an ally works as described by the spell, and is not checked for belief by the recipient benefactor. But if an enemy is affected by the enhanced ability score in any fashion, the enemy has a chance to disbelieve. The same is true for all other self-buffing and ally-buffing shadow illusions.

Fractional Reality: If you have an effect that is partially real, always round down. Observe this paragraph from the Player’s Handbook page 304 under the heading: Rounding Fractions. “In general, if you wind up with a fraction, round down, even if the fraction is one-half or larger.” The only exception to this rule is if the effect specifically says to round up.

DM Entry: Inspirational Quote

"One is not a good player by virtue of being able to build a powerful character. This is easy to do.

One is a good player by virtue of playing well with the other players. This is the true challenge."

--The DM.

DM Entry: Interpreting Affiliation Criteria

After doing some research about affiliations, two points have become apparent about how to interpret affiliation score criteria. Sometimes it seems unclear how to proceed but using the following two points of interpretation should solve most of the issues.

1. If two criteria are the same except that one is greater than the other, they do not stack. (You can see this in the PHBII errata document about several affiliations).

2. Any single criterion can only be gained once unless it specifically says it can be awarded multiple times. (Reading through PHBII's affiliations shows this).

Savage Tide: ECL 10 Guinet Westenwold gnome illusionist 3, master specialist 4, shadowcraft mage 3: Journal 3

Well, we're all warned about it.  Just one of many phenomenons in the sociology textbooks.  I'm talking about what's known as the "I'll show them!  I'll show them all!" moment we're prone to when we mix with the big folk.  What we don't ever actually intend to show them all is roughly half a minute of getting really good and ready, during which time the situation gets basically resolved without us, but more often than not, that's what happens.

Actually, I was really unimaginably lucky.  Lesser gnomes get eaten, crushed, or disbarred.  I just had to perform the Walk of Shame as a hydra, so, hey, that was new, although the winking and hooting from the surrounding buildings made it feel just like home.  Okay, so really it's less "hooting" and more "agonized whale calls", and do not mention the "winking".

And yes, technically in order for it to be a "Walk of Shame", it's implied that I helped make the beast-with-two-backs-and-even-more-heads as a hydra, which did not happen, although now that you mention it... aw, Hel, this is how we got owlbears, isn't it?  I think uncanny perversion must be an undocumented feature of polymorph, right?  It's not just me?  It must be because it was a male hydra.  I never realized they have as many heads down below as they do up above.  That kind of sudden unexpected sensory input would occupy anyone's attention for a couple dozen seconds, at least.

Wow, and how long ago was I criticizing these guys for exactly this sort of behavior?  Note to self: ask druid if these oh-so-cuddly building-critters might be emitting some kind of pheromones...or maybe ask the psion if there could be some kind of memetic compulsion related to that statue...  Second note to self: don't actually ask any of those things.  I mean, imagine the implications if they said no.  Or yes.

Hoo boy.  Is it fair to call that a digression?  More like an ethereal jaunt.  Anyway, we made it back to the artifact to have a very comfortable nap on the dried, moldy siliceous ooze of an ancient seabed, and I'm sure it's hard to believe that we learned there are reasons not to do that above and beyond what I've just described.  I've never been so thirsty.  The tiki head just has a tiki-typical expressionless grimace on its face, but I couldn't help but see it as a little bit derisive at the time.  A proper magic tiki head would at least have had the decency to offer me some rum in a novelty glass.

Oh, our psion died.  Not recently, though.  As far as we can tell, he's been dead as long as we've known him.  Only today, his body finally gave up the ghost when it was squeezed out of him by a copru.  We brought him back, if not good as new, at least as good as he was before.  I don't see a reason to make a big deal about it.  I'm sensitive to the needs of folks whose corpuses have different planar energy needs.  Some of them are kind of triggered by it.  Heck, the head of Necromancy back at school would hit you with a shivering touch just for saying the word "positive".  That was probably actionable, now that I think about it, but obviously, he had tenure.

Savage Tide: Lightless Depths; ECL 12 Garrik von Keizer Wizard 12; Seventh Entry

          My plan was a unprecedented success, albeit with a few alterations.

          Recommended by one of our new companions who has until now been silent commented on the possibility of enemy base defenses being an unknown factor. I will give him that however I do not expect the pyramid to have any external fortifications, the inside is another matter. Convincing them was not worth the effort so I went along with it.

          Now we face the unknown dangers of the pyramid. What such wonders exist to justify such an operation. Evidence of Eldritch manifestations is enough to get any scholar running for their sanity, not so much for a Wizard of my caliber. I must take the moments I have to prepare my mind, I may be arrogant but I am no fool.

          My research continues although I have not had much time to scribe much onto my thesis but I have found a few more reachable ways to functioning immortality. As luck would have it there are some gods who do not object to the undead. Perhaps I will leave that one out of the paper.

          This entry is such a mess. To much going on right now and getting harder to keep straight.

Savage Tide: ECL12 Acontum Bane: Sorcerer 6 Swiftblade 6: Entry 9

Not much to write, not much time, well ill make more time. We rested and headed out. Instead of trying to fireball the pyramid, we went with a hit and run tactics instead. We hit them fast and hard. A small group, so we tried it again... not knowing if they were stupid or really stupid. Turns out they were just stupid and sent a little larger of a force.
We made quick work of them and then went to the air to scout the temple. What was swarming with hundreds, now has nothing around it... We had a bad feeling.
Three of us took to the air and headed for the pit with the artifact. And just as we thought, they were there. The monster that we slain earlier was guarding it, and without it, they went to break the artifact holding the water back. We immediately took action.
I dove down into the center of the pit with 6 dark nagas, crushing some of them under the speed of my club. Two of the other members launched deadly aerial fireball attacks from the air reducing the number of trogs to nearly nothing, dropping the Kopru and Kopru Behemoths to the ground. The druid iced the edges of the walls, sliding the monsters into the pit with me, only to be crushed by my Warhammer.
We hit them so fast, reduced their numbers to nothing. Over 50 plus monsters meet there deaths in that pit during that moment. All the blood ran down into the pit and just like the water, as the level of the blood reached close to the stone, it evaporated. It made cleanup easy.
After chasing the last few down, we turned our sights to the pyramid....

Calvin ECL 9

As it turns out, nothing is as it seems.  I received a message from home saying we were to be removed from our housing in 3 days time.  My wife and three children were going to be sold into slavery for the amount due on our home in town.  Without notice, I abandon my group and head straight there.  Two solid days of walking and hitchhiking, and when I arrive, I realized....
I'm not even married..  Guess I will spend the next few days on a return trip to my group.  I hope they don't find out about this....

DM Entry: Update to Invisible Mail

I have to regretfully apologize to those who have used this spell recently. I hate making changes to something while it is being used in the game. The version we have been using recently was updated back in 2006 (I believe), and I cannot tell you what I was thinking at the time. My goal for updating previous edition spells to 3.5 is to be as authentic as possible to the original version of the spell, while staying within the 3.5 rules set. I have included here an image of the spell as it appears in The Complete Wizard's Handbook from AD&D 2nd Edition. After the image is the updated text of the spell as it now appears in the Aryathan Jiil Libram of Magic I.pdf (now updated on the google drive). If anyone has this spell known by their character and you wish to exchange it for another spell, you are free to do so.


Change Notes

Body Slot: There are other spells that describe themselves as covering you in armor but not hindering you. These do actually take up a body slot. Mage armor does not take a body slot.

Variant Armor Spell: The first sentence is a little misleading if read from a 3.5 viewpoint. Many 3.5 spells say that they function as another spell with some variation. In this case, however, the 2nd edition spell is just saying it is a more powerful spell that grants you some armor, but not saying it functions like mage armor.

Absorbs Damage: This is where I cannot tell you what I was thinking. The spell clearly says it absorbs 1 point per caster level, not 3 per caster level.

Armor Bonus: Also here I cannot tell you what I was thinking. My previous update said it granted +8 armor bonus. The spell from 2nd Edition says it grants you AC 3, which becomes +7 in 3.5 Edition. A +8 bonus would say that it grants you an AC 2 in 2nd Edition.

Field Plate: In the 2nd Edition Player's Handbook, what they called Plate Mail (AC 3) was renamed Half-Plate (+7 armor) in 3.5 Edition. Note: Plate Mail from 2nd Edition is not to be confused with either Field Plate or Full Plate (also from 2nd Edition).

Invisible Mail

Updated from The Complete Wizard’s Handbook, AD&D 2nd Edition.

Conjuration (creation) [force]

Level: Sorcerer 3, Wizard 3

Components: V, S, M

Casting Time: 1 standard action

Range: Personal

Target: You

Duration: Instantaneous

            This spell covers your body in a suit of half-plate made of invisible force (occupying the armor body slot). It provides a +7 armor bonus to Armor Class, and absorbs 1 point of damage per caster level. The spell ends when the armor has absorbed the calculated amount. This armor has no effect against damage from magic weapons. The invisible mail does not add weight, have a maximum Dexterity to AC, have an armor check penalty, have a chance of spell failure, nor does it reduce your speed.

Invisible Mail: AC Bonus +7, Max Dex –, Armor Check Penalty –, Spell Failure –, Speed (unreduced), Weight –, Special Properties: Absorbs 1 point of damage per caster level.

            Material Component: a small fragment of plate armor.

DM Entry: Blog Bonus XP and Bio Bonus XP Formula Simplification

Please note the bonus for posting your character's blog and the bonus for posting your character's bio have been simplified. You can see the new formula by clicking the link on the left column that says:

Rules and Format (**read before posting**)

Savage Tide: ECL 9 Guinet Westenwold gnome illusionist 3, master specialist 4, shadowcraft mage 2: Journal 2

Okay, boys and girls: if you're like me approximately twenty years ago, you've just finished unpacking in your new room at ye Ancient Unmistakable Magickal Society Concerning Spells, Their Usage, And The Teaching Thereof.  Finally, you've left behind the cold waters and the fishing nets that you'd resorted to partaking in to pay for all this, and the occasional incidental raiding parties that you didn't really have a choice in, but who's complaining when you get a cut of the loot?  Okay, so maybe your experience isn't exactly like mine.  (If it isn't obvious, I finally remembered what Krakenheim is.  Despite what you may be thinking, I can actually recommend the place.  But I'm getting sidetracked.)

Your eyes are probably sparkling and your mind is reeling with the majesty of all the magic you're about to learn so much about.  I mean...yeah.  It's magic.  That is the right way to be feeling right now.

But here's the thing: they don't tell you, as a prospective illusionist, that you're probably just going to end up as a major image slave for some adventuring party you've never even heard of.  The feeling you'll get when you realize they could actually cast it themselves, but they need their hands free for a good vigorous tug on their wand of fireballs.  Worse still, it's not even an interesting image they're asking you to make, just project the once-living visage of this abomination onto the skeleton we've animated and try to keep up as we order it to slowly (well, fairly quickly) lumber over this hill.  Where's the art?  Where's the creativity?  A familiar could do this job.  And furthermore: statistically, you're incredibly likely to be captured by a demon.

They tell me the experience is invaluable but I'm really not sure I can put any of this on a resume.  If I use them as references they probably won't bother to respond to the sending (oh, sorry, I was in an antimagic field...).

The reason for all of this, my friends?  Well, illusion is a crowded field.  Something like 80% of young gnomish wizards become illusionists, and while numbers aren't available for other races, my personal anecdotal evidence says up to 10% of them do, too.  Do you really think the Sultan of Zeif needs a gnome like you to put up unbelievably tasteless permanent images in his boudoir?  Last I heard, he can actually do that himself.  And more power to him, I say; really, what is home decor without the personal touch?  Now, if you want to hear about a really bad job, look up the sorcerers he has clean the place after hours with prestidigitation.

But enough about Corusk life.  Gnomish nonsense like this is why I left the place, and why, if you're somehow reading this A. at all and B. in Corusk, you should get out while you can.  That attitude is why the big burly norskmen down the hill (and even the less burly one who minded the general shop and you sort of fancied but never said anything) all shake their heads at you when you talk.  I mean, it's also because you're a gnome and the Fruztii aren't exactly the picture of cultural sensitivity.  But the attitude definitely isn't helping. 

(Aside: Seriously?  "Fruztii?"  Do they know how silly that sounds?  I mean...I guess it's unlikely anyone's brought it up.  I guess that's why the cartographers just write "frost barbarians" in that corner.)

See, what I've actually just described above isn't a picture of a young woman (yes, young, I'm not even 80 yet) stuck in a dead-end job.  It's a story of adventure!  Saving...something!  The world?  Maybe.  Almost definitely we're down here for a really good reason.  I mean...nobody would come down here just for jewelry, right?  It makes people "strangely evil"?  Yeah.  I know.  I've seen it happen.  Well, maybe some jewelry is just that bad.

There are gnomes in Corusk who clip their toenails with the kind of power they use down here to usurp kings.  Ultimately, I'm not sure who I pity more.

Savage Tide: ECL 12 Acontum Bane: Sorcerer 6 Swiftblade 6: Entry 8

So after we came out of the tunnels we entered a place called Golismorga. The 'city' was vast in size being the fact it was miles underground. Well everyone else around me pointed out a few things of interest in here, to be short and save me as much time as I could, we (being they) seen a large pit and a pyramid in the distance. They said the pyramid was covered with hundreds of monsters, and we decided that our small number was not enough to face the 100+ minions around the pyramid, so we went out to the pit.
As I was scouting, the building were alive, I could sense their tentacles reaching out for me. Some of them screaked at my assumed presence as I was invisible. I managed to check some things out and get back. Then when I got back the group said that a scouting party left the temple in my old direction. We decided to quickly go down and rush over to the other side of the cavern, to the large pit.
As we rounded a 'building' we were startled by a large skeleton mass with a body inside of it. As I always do, I charged the thing to keep it busy as our mage destroyed it with ease. It apparently was a Devourer of some sort, and lucky for his next victim, a small gnome locked in a chest, was now safe. He doesn't recall his past or what happened to him. Our walking library said that the Devourer can wipe minds, makes sense... wonder if they could do that to Orcus for me lol. Right I know that's a little far fetched lol. Well we clothed him and allowed him to follow us since an extra body couldn't hurt.
We managed to get to the pit, and a large statue head was sitting in the middle of it. I think they said it was a Tear of some god!!! We could see the water levels rise up to it and evaporate instantly.... we came to the conclusion that it was keeping the water out of this place... and that none of us could swim or breath this deep under here, or want any monsters to wake up (the aboliths) we decided to leave it alone.
As the library mage went down to look at it, we must have disturbed something because this large spider thing emerged. It looked like a large jello mold that had a few dozen legs. It immediately started to go after our spellcasters. During the fight it took off in the air as if with the fly spell, then shortly plummeted to the ground as our mage obsessed with his own death dispelled what ever spells it had. Then it tried to go invisible, which was useless for him since the druid had coated the area in a storm of ice and hail. After a short time, we dispatched it with relative ease.... later we learned that this thing was a brain collector. They apparently can live forever... unless they meet us. lol
We decided to leave the stone alone and go back to cliff to camp out for the night.
On our way back we crossed paths with the scouting party. Was not much of a fight, I immediately charged them, taking out one of the Kopru being carried by two trogs, then a chain lighting took out the majority of the others. They started to flee, but we quickly ran them down and conintued back to the campsite.
So back at the campsite we prepared for our assault on the pyramid after making a small assessment of the scouting party and what was left at the pyramid. In the morning we will launch our assault. So I too prepared. I have this stranger that oddly shows up when ever I need him and he is willing to sell me supplies that as if he knew before I did, what I wanted. Makes things rather convenient... I just wont tell the party of this.
It is the next morning, and so the assault commences.......

Savage Tide: ECL 7 Guinet Westenwold gnome illusionist 3, master specialist 4: Journal 1

Hm.  I was really hoping there'd already be something written in this.

So, uh, hi there, future me.  Here's what I know, in case I forget again.

My name is Guinet Westenwold.  (Whew!  Easy one.)  I'm currently a little too deep underneath the "Isle of Dread" (two miles underground, I think they said?) with a gang of horny old wizards who've been down here a little too long.  It's exactly like a class reunion, only it smells much worse.  I mean, mage hand?  Really?  One, I've heard it all before, and two, you aren't getting any sensation from it, so what's the fucking point?  The spell you actually want to cast is...well, I wouldn't know anything about that.

Obviously, I'm kidding.  It's not like I haven't used mage hand to goose a freshman before.  (Yes, that was absolutely the extent of my adventures in magical misconduct.  Absolutely.  Look, me, some things you don't write down, even on a secret page, which this isn't.)  Also, these guys are far better company than the giant, soul-sucking monster that stuffed me in a bag and left me inside the anus of a giant barnacle.  I mean, what appears to be the anus-slash-front-door (back door?) of a giant-barnacle-slash-domicile.  The point is, they look like anuses, we're calling them anuses, and the people(?) here live(?) in anuses(no "?").  And if these guys hadn't come along, it's unlikely that Mr. Teeth would've left me there indefinitely, and even if he might I'm not really sure which of those two potential fates I would've preferred.  (I lie: it's the anus one, obviously.  It might leave a stain on your soul and your clothes, but the clothes are still yours and you can burn the soul.  Wait, I might have that backwards.)

Hey, I remember more than I thought, don't I?  I can almost see the translucent shape of my old Glamers professor intersecting the Ethereal.  I also remember, say, the idea of having parents and siblings and a (large) extended family, if not their names, faces, or how much I really liked them, anyway.  I'm sure they're doing fine.

What I don't remember is anything about this Isle of Dread or why in Krakenheim I'd be anywhere near it, much less two miles below it.

Hey, "Krakenheim"!  Something bubbled to the surface!  Now, is that the name of a place, or...?  If only I had a map.

Well, anyway, I have the assurance of an expert (me) that any memory problems are probably definitely only a result of my brush with a "devourer" (Mr. Teeth above, the expert had to consult with a taxonomy consultant for this taxonomy) and they will definitely probably go away with time.  Yes, it's all very reassuring.  No, I haven't really wanted to get into it with my saviors.  I get the distinct feeling that if the amnesia isn't monstrously induced, it's probably something I did to myself intentionally, though only Callarduran knows why (or how) I would've.  And if I'm right, he can keep knowing, I don't want to, because isn't that exactly the point?  I'm not going to be one of those people who doggedly seeks out the truth of their lost past life only to become that which they feared, or die on an altar, or go insane, or... Well, you get the picture.

Savage Tide: Lightless Depths; ECL 12 Garrik von Keizer Wizard 12; Sixth Entry

          I can feel my morality more and more every day. I shouldn't have started adventuring again. After the hooked horrors and spiders I was completely worn out only to be faced with some abomination seemingly from one of the Horror novels of my youth. Quite fed up with this nonsense instead of targeting the monster itself I went for what it was hanging on to. One Disintegration later i was able to relax for the rest as the party quickly dispatched the struggling creature as it held itself up.

          Soon after we found a flooded chamber with a "ghost." I use the term loosely because it was a illusion of a ghost. Fairly clever seeing as that normal illusion cannot be interacted with such as many ghost by normal means. It pleaded with us to destroy an a object that we need to fulfill some sort of destiny or foreseen event or what ever you want to call it. Regardless of the raving s of a programmed ghost image we determined that the crystal actually dispelled mind enchantments which was the main weapon of the Aboleth. So we elected to leave it be for now, seemed like a trick. Being as I am i further investigated the "ghost" I realized it was not just a simple illusion but one that must be manned and operated by the spell caster. My companions did not seem to be alarmed by this but I believe this is possibly a spell cast by a waking Aboleth or some collaborator to get us to destroy the one thing that keeps them from using their thralls to break free.

        I shall, as always, remain skeptical. As we come to the edge of Golismorga we shall all have remain vigilant, especially of each other in face of an enemy who can dominate minds.

Savage Tide: ECL 12 Aconitum Bane: Sorcerer 6 Swiftblade 6: Entry 7

So we enter this strange 'bubble'.... the walking library with us says that we cant teleport in here anymore.... maybe I could hide from Orcus's hate in here? Oh well, well nothing much of interest has occurred lately other than common fights here and there... oh and an unknown village hidden miles underground here. So apparently we are to bring the destruction of this village and they are packing up and moving out.... well it depends if Orcus wants to show up now... oh I hope not. Maybe there is some way I can just move so fast that I can change the flow of time lol.
So I'm trying anything I can to protect myself from impending doom.... I don't care about my money anymore, its worthless if I'm dead. I paid the bookie in the group to cast enlarge person on me and make it permanent. Then I found another spell, Girillion's Blessing to grant me 2 more arms lol I had him make that permanent on me too lol. I don't know how big Orcus is or what he has planned, but hopefully my new size and an extra set of arms could help me lol. I overheard the mage talking about some other spells he heard here and there.... im going to try to see if some of them can help me too!
Well that strange blob that was following us decided to go crazy and attack one of the other characters as we were fighting some giant spiders... it was funny to watch the other spell caster and his skeleton fight it off.
Well who knows what the future has in store for me... but maybe I can find some way around my problems. Maybe if I keep making myself go faster and pushing the limits of my body, who knows what I can do.