Minimalist Magic Item table

I've spent a lot of time trying to finish this table. Probably too much time, honestly. It’s one of those things that works exactly as I wanted once it’s done, but just by looking at it, you can’t really see the amount of effort I put in. This is my Dark Fantasy Magic Items in minimalist form (although I think that book is still worth a read at $1.49; it has some additional stuff). 

After polishing it quite a bit, I am almost satisfied with the result.

The idea is this: anyone can create a table with 1,000 magical items (a single d1000 table or d10 versus d100 etc). Since you’ll never use more than a few dozen (maybe not even that many) in a campaign, you’ll never really know the true value of the table. If the results don’t make sense to you, you’ll just think you got unlucky when rolling.

What I wanted was a table that could be easily judged by anyone at a glance. For example, you can easy see how common is a magical dagger compare to a magic ring or rope.

I could also have a table meant purely for inspiration, with a completely abstract and open format, where you combine an effect with an item, no direct relation between the two. The problem is when the effects often don’t fit the items very well, so you end up with armor that deals extra damage or axes that make you move faster, etc. 

I had the impression this was the case in Shadow of the Demon Lord.

Or, ideally, I'd have a big list of common, uncommon, rare, legendary magic items... with sub-tables and elaborate descriptions, maybe prices too. I think this is what 5e does, maybe AD&D too. But it wouldn't be really "minimalist", would it? Anyway, I want to fit mine in a page or two.

The table below boils down to about 10 categories of objects and 20 categories of effects. Since the objects are divided in practice, we end up with more than a thousand possible combinations of effects and items. The difference is that I tried to make it very clear which effects fit best with which objects, so that most of the items you generate using the instructions will actually make sense, and "common" magic items will be, well, actually common. In fact, I toned don't some of the more fantastical and looney tunes effects (e.g., portable hole) to fit my favorite genres of fantasy (low fantasy, dark fantasy).

To illustrate the tables, I included a few items as examples at the end of the post.

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Magic Items

The most common magic items are listed below with their usual effects. You can replace the effects (or alter them, if you roll 1-4) using the effects table, below. It is recommended you do that when you roll an odd number in the first d20, at least until you need more variety.

 

1–2. Apparel. A piece of clothing. Sometimes it only affects an specific part of the body. Examples [1d8]: 1 amulet (+1 to all saves), 2 belt (your Strength becomes 18 or gets a +3 bonus, whichever is better), 3 boots (+10’ movement, i.e., walk 25% faster), 4 bracers (like belt), 5 cloak (+1 AC and saves), 6 gloves (+4 to manual tasks such as picking locks, pockets, etc.), 7 helmet (+4 vs. mind effects), 8 GM's choice.

3–4. Armor or shield. +1 AC. Roll 1d4 for type: 1 light, 2 medium, 3 heavy, 4 shield.

5–6. Potion. Restores 1d6+1 hit points.

7–8. Ring. Rings can do almost anything. Roll on the effects table.

9–10. Scroll. Contains a common random spell, anyone can cast. Roll 2d6, keep the lower die, for its level.

11–12. Tool. A magic tool that resembles an ordinary object but is supernaturally more efficient. Examples: Roll 1d6: 1 rope (you can command it to climb walls, tie itself, etc.), 2 lantern (burns without fuel for up to 10 hours on command), 3 bag (weighs one unit but holds 10 units without changing size or weight), 4 key (once a day, it can open any ordinary lock), 5 tinderbox (creates flame on command like a strong modern lighter), 6 waterskin (creates water on command, up to a gallon a day).

13–14. Wand / rod / staff. Cast one spell (see Scroll, above). Roll for maximum charges (wand 1d6, rod 2d6, staff 3d6). Casting spends charges equal to the spell's level; regain one-third of maximum (round up) at dawn.

15–16. Weapon. +1 to attack and damage. Ammunition comes in a bundle of 3d6 pieces, each expending its magic on a hit. Weapon type: 1 axe, 2 spear, 3 hammer/mace, 4 bow or crossbow, 5 ammunition, 6 polearm. See below for size if needed.

17–18. Sword. +1 to attack and damage. Roll for size if needed: 1 dagger (1d4), 2–3 medium (1d6), 4–5 long (1d8), 6 two-handed (1d10).

19–20. Special. Either roll 1d20 on the Effects table, then invent an unusual object to carry it (19) or roll for the object, then give it a remarkable or combined effect (20).

 

 

Magic Item Effects (d20)

Some effects fit some items better. Entries 1-4 can fit almost anything (if you don’t have an obvious effect, a roll of 1-3 might require you to roll twice); 5-6 are ideal for weapons; 7 (spells) are better left for scroll and wands, although magic swords can sometimes cast spells; 8-15 are mostly passive defensive and they can work well for armor or potions or apparel; 16-17 are more “mental” and better suited to helmets, necklaces and similar; 18 and 19 are rare and are only an easy fit for scrolls (summoning) and big apparel or amulets (transformation). 20 is for all items.

If the effect does not fit the item, decide what to do, randomly or otherwise.

E.g.: 1d6: 1-2 be creative and make it fit or allow it to be weird, 3-4 roll again, 5-6 fall back to the ordinary effect.

 

1. Cursed. The item carries a curse that may manifest at the worst possible time.
2. Temporary. The item becomes mundane after being used 2d6 times.
3. Powerful. The item is unusually strong. For a numeric bonus, roll 1d20: 1–10 the effect is +2, 11–16 +3, 17–19 +4, 20 +5. Similarly, a d6 becomes 2d6 to 5d6, and a 50% reduction becomes 1d20 × 5% (minimum 60%).
4. Conjuring. The item seems to return or appear from out of nowhere, as the owner conjures it with a word or gesture. Alternatively, it is very easily concealed, foldable or very light. If it’s a thrown weapon, it returns to your hand instead.
5. Elemental attack. Deals an extra 1d6 damage of one type. Roll 1d8: 1 acid, 2 cold, 3 fire, 4 lightning, 5 necrotic, 6 poison, 7 psychic, 8 radiant.
6. Hatred. Deals an extra 1d6 damage against one type of creature. Roll 1d12: 1 aberration, 2 beast, 3 celestial, 4 construct, 5 dragon, 6 elemental, 7 fey, 8 fiend, 9 giant, 10 humanoid, 11 monstrosity, 12 undead.
7. Spells. Cast one type of spell. Roll 2d6 and keep the lower die for the spell's level, the higher die for maximum charges. Casting spends charges equal to the spell's level; regain one-third of maximum (round up) at dawn. Alternatively, simplify "magic missile, three charges" to something like "cast magic missile three times a day" when desired. Best left to rings, wands, staves, and scrolls.
8. Protection from element. Reduces incoming damage of one type by 50%. See entry 5 for type.
9. Protection from creatures. Reduces damage or attacks from one type of creature. See entry 6 for type.
10. Protection (saving throws). +1 to all saving throws.
11. Defense. +1 to Armor Class.
12. Augmentation. Raises one ability score by +3, or sets it to a fixed value (18), whichever is better. The stat affected is usually physical and adequate to the item in question. If necessary, roll 1d6: 1 Strength, 2 Dexterity, 3 Constitution, 4 Intelligence, 5 Wisdom, 6 Charisma.
13. Resilience. 50% resistance to a hazard or condition. Roll 1d8: 1 poison, 2 fear, 3 charm, 4 sleep, 5 exhaustion, 6 disease, 7 petrification, 8 an environmental hazard (hunger, thirst, drowning, suffocation).
14. Movement. Move faster or in new ways. Roll 1d8: 1 fly, 2 climb any surface, 3 swim, 4 burrow, 5 walk on water, 6 ignore difficult terrain, 7 leap great distances, 8 slip free of grapples, shackles, and cages.
15. Misdirection. Disguise yourself, your movement, or your actions. Roll 1d6: 1 invisibility, 2 silence (move without sound), 3 impersonate someone, 4 create illusions, 5 leave no traces, 6 pass as another kind of creature.
16. Perception. A supernatural sense. "Keen" versions of ordinary senses grant advantage. Roll 1d8: 1 darkvision, 2 keen hearing, 3 keen smell, 4 blindsight, 5 detect invisible, 6 see auras or magic, 7 detect lies, 8 truesight.
17. Communication. Understand or speak across barriers. Roll 1d8: 1 all humanoid languages, 2 all spoken languages, 3 all written languages, 4 one exotic tongue (celestial, infernal, draconic, sylvan), 5 speak with animals, 6 speak with plants, 7 telepathy, 8 understand any language you hear.
18. Summoning. Call or create a creature to serve you. It looks friendly and possibly loyal but is not enslaved. Roll 1d6 for HD, 1d6 for number of creatures (limit total to 10 HD), and see entry 6 for creature type.
19. Transformation. Turn into a creature, usually an animal. Roll 1d12: 1 insect or spider, 2 rat, 3 owl, 4 snake, 5 wolf, 6 fish, 7 cat or tiger, 8 ape, 9 bear, 10 hawk or eagle, 11 boar, 12 a monster (see entry 6 for type).
20. Special. Roll twice and combine, invent something unexpected, or make the item especially noteworthy with multiple functions.

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Examples:

- Cloak: grants flight.

- Heavy armor +1 AC.

- Potion of cold resistance.

- Scroll holding a 2nd-level spell and a 3rd-level spell with 5 charges (this is a special result; I'd probably change this to a single 5th level spell, or replace it by two separate scrolls)

- Spear +1, +1d6 lightning damage.

- Two-handed sword +1 (1d10).

So far, these are cool if a bit ordinary. I haven't changed a thing. Let's try a few more:

- Helm that allows the wearer to see magical auras.

- Light armor that raises Dexterity by +3 (or sets it to 18) [I could change this, but since its is light armor, I think the Dex boost makes sense].

- Potion of healing.

- Belt of Strenght.

- Scroll of Levitate

- Shield that reduces damage from fiends by 50%.

I didn't even need to re-roll anything. Last pass, with some die rolls:

- 19, 6, 11 - Now this requires some input. I'd say it is a holy symbol that makes you a monster slayer (+1d6 damage to monsters) while you carry it. Maybe a sigil, tabard, etc.

- Level 1 scroll.

- 6, 2, 13 - We could stop at 6 and make it a healing potion, or roll on the second table and make a potion with 2d6 uses that protects you from fear.

- 8, 13, 5 - A ring of protection from disease.

- 16, 6, 17*, 11*, 14*, 6, 12 - A "mace of communication" sounds funny but doesn't quite work for me at first, so I re-rolled three more times (roll with asterisks were discarded) until I got a mace that causes additional 1d6 damage to undead. I could have stopped at a +1 AC weapon, come to think of it.

- Ring of Constitution.

As you can see, no "Legendary" status items, these would require rolling more 20s. But almost all the results are perfectly usable with little effort. I'll probably tinker a bit more with it before I finish my Old School Minimalist PDF (if I ever do), but at least I think I've found the right path here. Or almost...

Did I miss any obvious cool item or effect?

The Face in the Frost (review)

The Face in the Frost, by John Bellairs, is a somewhat odd book to include in the Appendix N. Apparently, Gygax was a big fan of it (though he said he read it after D&D was created), as mentioned on Dragon magazine #22; it is also mentioned in the DMG itself (thanks to @John_Cyrano, on X).

Dragon #22

DMG

The whole book has a certain young adult fiction vibe; a blend of satire, oneirism, and postmodernism. The first thing I noticed is that it spends long paragraphs describing the setting: the rooms and chambers of a house, the plants, the locations, the roads, even the weather conditions and clothing. The few action scenes, however, are described in an extremely rushed manner. In a way, it's as if the common criticisms of Tolkien's work had been made flesh: pages go by describing details that seem non-essential to the story. That's not necessarily a bad thing; in fact, the landscapes are so vividly described that you can often picture yourself inside the story, or at least inside its physical world, even if the action itself isn't very exciting.

All in all, the book has many strengths: it is well written, the descriptions are beautiful, there is plenty of humor, and it even manages to blend (in a postmodern way) fantasy with history, constantly keeping you uncertain about the exact relationship between the world of the story and our own. The worldbuilding, however, is not very developed, but merely hinted at, perhaps as a running joke.

The book has its cool moments, like a stroll through a dark fortress, but some boring ones too, and seems to point to a great climax that never truly arrives. What the book lacks, essentially, is action. The characters are charismatic, but not especially memorable. In fact, I often thought the book had to have some prequel that would explain why we should care about these people.

The magic bears little resemblance to D&D, despite Gygax's comments, but it is a postmodern mess of religion, tarot, and randomness. There are very few monsters or warriors. The most obvious comparison is with Terry Pratchett's Discworld, which shares a similar, somewhat satirical sense of humor, but managed to develop the form with greater success.

Overall, a fun but ultimately unsatisfying read, and not one of the strongest entries in the Appendix N.

The fireball hand grenade

You might have heard me complain about fireballs a couple of times, so I hope you'll forgive me for trying a new fix to a problem some of you might share. The fix is really simple and does not significantly nerf MUs (in fact, I'm not sure it is enough).

Usually, when an MU throws a fireball at a group of goblins, things like saves and damage rarely matter - goblins within blast radius are toast. Which is fine, but it gets weirder and weirder to me when the MU can instantly kill a group of orcs, lizard men or even bugbears.

What if we just roll damage as usual (say, 7d6 for a 7th-level MU), but that is the TOTAL damage dealt. So, against a group of goblins, a weak damage roll (say, 20 points) and a successful save would reduce the number of goblin casualties to only two or three.

The damage is distributed as the GM sees appropriate - think of the fireball like a hand grenade! Most of the damage hits the center, shrapnel spreads outward.

This logic seems to work for groups. Against a single creature, the fireball remains equally effective. If you want to change that, you can just decide that, like a grenade, the main target gets most of the damage but a part of it (say, half of the damage, round down) is spread around.

Lightning bolt could function similarly, but maybe I'd let the MU concentrate all damage into a single creature or create a "line" of damage that diminishes as each creature is hit in a straight line. This spells has not been as common in my games, however. I'm even tempted to treat dragon breath in similar way (well, as a flamethrower) and let fighters jump with their shields in front of wizards when needed.

Anyway, I like this idea because it makes a 10d6 fireball very different from a 5d6 fireball against a group of lesser foes, which gives the wizard a real sense of progression without making him overpowered in comparison to fighters. Thinking of them as grenades makes them feel more grounded and tactically interesting, giving MUs interesting choices of where to aim - and it is also reminiscent of the original Chainmail origins that treated wizards like artillery.

Chainmail magic: Spell Complexity, Counter spell, and more oddities

Chainmail* has several interesting ideas that have been "lost" in the transition to D&D. Studying them is fun and can provide many ideas for your D&Dish games. Today, we tackle magic, in three parts: Spell Complexity, Counter spell, and other curiosities.

[*affiliate link]

Spell Complexity

Spell Complexity is an optional rule where "each listed spell has a complexity value, and this value indicates how difficult it is to use such spell. [...] In addition, there may be a delay in the effect of the spell, or it may be totally negated due to some minor error or distraction. The table below gives the scores necessary for immediate, deferred (1 turn), and negated spell effects by the various levels of magic-users.".

In other words:

- Roll 2d6. Subtract spell level. Add half your level, round up (this is an approximation, CM units have names instead of levels).

- 8 or more means the spell is cast immediately. 6-7 means it is delayed for one turn. 5 means the spell fails. 

While I have written my own roll-to-cast rule for B/X, I must admit I'm enthralled by this one, simply because of the spell delay aspect. It adds another layer of excitement/tension and choice/tactics to everyone on the battlefield.

Now spell interruption is not only about initiative, but about a series of choices on both sides of the battle.

BTW, the book won't tell you what happens if you roll lower than 5; I first assumed the spell is lost for the day, but it could also be a spell mishap, etc. Look at the post I mentioned for more ideas. But, as mentioned in the comments, the table probably indicates that 5 or less means the spell fails. The notation is horrible but supposedly it is common in wargaming at the time.

Counter spell

"The stronger magician can successfully cast a counter-spell with a two dice score of 7 or better, while a weaker magician needs a score of 8, 9, 10 or 11, depending on his relative strength. A counter-spell fully occupies a magician's powers." 

In other words... you could employ a similar dice roll as the one describe above, adding your level and subtracting your opponent's level (half-level would be more precise, but I'd favor simplicity here).

CM does not delve into further detail; I assume the spell that is successfully countered is negated. I'm unsure if only delayed spells can be countered, but it would be fun if your delay allowed another magician to not only counter your spell but also cast a spell against you, etc.

Again, this adds another layer of tension and tactics to the game.

Other curiosities

"Wizards can handle magical weaponry. [...] Wizards can become invisible and remain so until they attack, they con see in darkness, they affect friendly and enemy morale as do Super Heroes [...]. Wizards are themselves impervious to normal missile fire but if they are struck by a missile from an enemy Wizard they must score 7 or better with two to survive."

They seems very powerful!

Wizards are also artillery. They can throw fireballs and lightning bolts (with effects similar to guns and catapults), which are not spells, so presumably they don't "roll to cast" and never run out. I like this approach and I added an "arcane artillery" feat to my Old School Feats.

A wizard - the highest level a magic-user can get - has only 6-7 spells. If we count fireballs, lighting bolts, and in visibility, we are not very far from one spell per level, which I like.

Also notice the lack of "Vancian" casting. No memorization. You just have a few spells that you can cast over and over until you fail.

Overall, I really like Chainmail magic. It is somewhat simpler and at the same time has more tactical depth than B/X, without getting to AD&D levels of complexity.

It doesn't require memorization, material components or specific casting times; the spells can be cast more often, but also can be delayed and countered. This seems to me as a superior alternative as it is more exciting than a list of requirements.

A B/X conversion?

How about 10+ means immediate casting, 5+ means delayed casting, and less than that you fail or lose the spell? This makes MUs lose some of their speed but not their power. Seems good for starting MUs, but as always they become too powerful at higher levels. As always, some fine-tuning is needed.

TIME must always have a COST - no 5-minute workdays

I've written a longer post here; this is the short version, more or less.

(I really like that post; I encourage you to read it).

Time must always have a cost.

Resting for one hour in the dungeon is dangerous. But so is resting for one day in the wild.

Resting for a month in a peaceful city should ALSO have a cost.

The cost is usually DANGER. 

It can also be money, until the PCs are too rich to care. Or anything else the PCs might lose.

In any case, there must be a risk that the cost lasts longer than the time spent. 

I.e., if the cost of resting for a day is an encounter that does nothing except take a few HP, they'll just rest another day or two.

If there is no cost, the PCs will ALWAYS fall back to the free/safe state after they have spent some resources, thus creating the "5-minute work day": the PCs enter the dungeon, spend all their spells, and get out of the dungeon to recover them.

Same can be said of HP. It does not matter if the PCs fully recover in one day, one week, or one month if there is no cost to that.

Even after a month, it is unlikely that the monsters will "re-spawn" (although I love to add certain undead that rise again every night until the source of the curse is destroyed).

But maybe they should just leave (with all the treasure) or call for reinforcements. 

Otherwise, the PCs can always "reset" their losses with no costs for the opposition.

It is like they are playing chess, and they can always reset their clock arbitrarily - and even replenish lost pieces - but their foes can't.

Until, of course, they suffer a check-mate (or TPK). 

This is hard to happen if the PCs can just choose to leave at any time, but it can still happen against opposition that is much stronger.

I'm tempted to say the game ends whenever the PCs reach safety (or, again, in a TPK). You can start the game again with the same PCs after a day of after after a season, but then it will be a different game. If they go back to the dungeon, the dungeon will have changed.

Having a game without any risk feels a bit boring.  The only way to have a meaningful campaign that never really "stops" is to keep that in mind.

Note: the New Year, New Game sale is on. I'm thinking of getting Crypts and Things Remastered - let me know if you have read it! But there are tons of other games on sale.

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Spell points revisited

When I wrote Alternate Magic, I tried to keep it very compatible to BX / OSE. 

Here is what I've been using. A spell costs 1 SP per spell level.

As I've mentioned there, the goal was: "At low levels, this is nearly identical to the existing rules. At high levels, casters gain some versatility (they can cast the same spells more often) but they can memorize and cast fewer spells."

Lately, I'm finding this system makes high-level casters even more powerful in some aspects. In my defense, I still think they are OP to begin with, as I've said many times in this blog.

Am I overthinking this? Maybe SP are just not compatible with fireballs. Maybe LotFP was right in simply removing it.

Anyway, here is where I am now:

My PCs are about level 7-8 currently.

A 7d6 fireball destroys pretty much any random wilderness encounter. If you're checking once a day, the MU can always have TWO of them. But I'm using spell points, which makes things much worse.

Likewise, Cure Light Wounds (the baseline Lvl 8 cleric has 3 every day, plus 2 CSW - about 7d6+7 healing) can cure most non-lethal wounds. Using SP gives the cleric even more healing power.

Fortunately, I nerfed the cleric in other ways (a level 7 BX cleric should have raise dead; I use the BECMI progression instead).

(And boosted fighter/thieves. The B/X fighter and thief would have about +5 to hit, plus a magic sword, while the cleric gets raise dead, better saves, and also beats the thief at AC and HD).

Anyway, I still LIKE spell points, but in my next campaign I'm probably limiting them to 2 SP per level for MUs and 1 SP for clerics. Both learn one new spell per level.

So, a 8th-level cleric can still cure a lot of wounds (8d8+8 HP), but he can do nothing else that day. 

A 7th-level MU has four fireballs - still a lot, but after that there is not much else he can do.

(I allow MUs to use swords, they might need it).

What is more, they don't recover all SP overnight. Like wounded fighters they need a few days of rest. 

I've been using "you recover one fourth of maximum HP per day, round up", something I got from SotDL, so maybe use that for SP too.

Anyway, this is not perfectly compatible to B/X (or OSE), as it makes casters a lot weaker. But I think this is necessary to make the game grittier and more balanced.

If you prefer the original feel (MUs start weak and get incredibly powerful), you can keep the original table. For a dark fantasy or S&S feel, this is probably better.

Time scales: rounds, days, weeks, expeditions

"For want of a nail the kingdom was lost"

Time keeping is extremely important in D&D. 

Everyone knows that since Gary Gygax said in the AD&D 1e DMG, in all caps, that YOU CAN NOT HAVE A MEANINGFUL CAMPAIGN IF STRICT TIME RECORDS ARE NOT KEPT.

But I think few RPGs - and maybe not even AD&D - has got this exactly right.

One concern I've shared here before is how spellcasters recover all of their spells OVERNIGHT. This becomes a problem because fighter can take up to four weeks to recover lost HP. And, while spells must be chosen every day, equipment is usually chosen once per expedition.

These things are operating in different time scales.

- Losing some HP may "cost" you a month (resurrection also costs you a few weeks).

- Losing all your rations might ruin your entire expedition*.

- Losing spell slots costs you a day at most.

(*An "expedition" is the travel from a safe city to a nearby dungeon or other challenge. In other genres, we could have a "job", "mission", "heist", etc).

If you have spells that produce HP or rations, the rhythm of the HP and ration recovery is broken. Which is not a problem "per se", if you are conscious of the effects.

For example, if a PC takes weeks to recover HP, this could encourage players to "rotate" between multiple characters. A cleric with "cure light wounds" can basically avoid this process, except when there is need for resurrection.

There is a certain rhythm to D&D - each RPG has its own.

In Pendragon, there are "time skips" that take years, and rule for how you can play with your heirs. Likewise (IIRC), wounds can take a lot of time to heal.

In DCC RPG, there are lasting consequences for magic - you can get mutations, spell mishaps, etc. Some of these are permanent (IIRC). This is not a problem, but I think other classes should also be subject to permanent consequences - say, scars and losing limbs (which is a thing in DCC, IIRC, but not usually in D&D).

Runequest suggests "one adventure per season" and - AFAICT - this interacts with income and experience rules.

In 4e D&D, there are daily, encounter and "at will" powers for ALL classes, so everybody in playing in the same tempo. It might have been too radical, making classes feel a bit "samey".

In 5e D&D, there are few consequences that can last more than a day. All spell slots are recovered, yes, but so are all HP and other powers. Even "raise dead" only takes four days to recover. There are also "short rests" that allow you to recover some HP, slots, etc. during the day.

The tricky part in 5e is keeping the short rest:long rest ratio. 

You see, some classes are better with long rests, others with short rests. If you mess up the ratio, 5e's supposed "balance" goes out the window. That is why 5e attracts bizarre concepts such as "seven encounters per day", which sounds good in a dungeon but silly in the wilderness, city, etc.

Old school D&D has a similar problem (well, like all RPGs).

First, there is this wilderness/dungeon divide. B/X recommends at one encounter check per day in the wilderness. But even if you're making three or four (which is optional), it is unlikely that will lead to more than a couple of actual combats if you're using the reaction table and evasion rules. 

But in the dungeon you check for encounters every TWENTY MINUTES. This changes the game completely. Now spell slots are precious few - at least for the first few levels.

However, PCs are not supposed to go to the wilderness until level 4. By level 5, a MU might have a 5d6 fireball that can destroy many wilderness encounters. 

On the other hand, if you "nerf" the MU too much, he is helpless in the dungeon after casting a couple of spells.

I think this is why a first level MU feels too weak and a 10th-level one feels too strong. Nerfing the MU requires giving him cantrips or at least a sword to compensate.

AD&D has aging rules. Unless you get cursed by a spell, these do not really matter, because no game mechanic interacts meaningfully with "years" (unless, maybe, building a castle or similar). Similarly, weapons have different speeds, which can interact with spell interruption and so on.

Then we have rounds, turns, hours, days, etc. Torches burn for an hour, which is 6 turns, or 360 rounds. Running out of torches might force you to spend days to go back to town, or, worse, can leave you lost in the dark.

I'm not suggesting a simple fix; instead, I'm encouraging you to reflect about which time scale your games are about, and how scales interact.

And, of course, keep strict time records and let your players know about it. 

The "5 minute workday" problem happens because there is no cost to wasting a day. If there is also no cost to wasting a few weeks, the PCs will start every encounter fully rested and healed regardless of healing spells and potions. And so on.

I have to reflect on how to implement this myself. In my current campaign, the PCs decided to leave a mission against certain goblin tribes that were harassing a nearby village. 

What happens when then go back? 

The answer should certainly be affected by how long they take to go back. If I just hand-wave time, we go back to "time railroading" and decisions about time become meaningless.

I've said before that "Time seems to be the glue that holds many rules together: Healing, researching, building, random encounters, searching, torches, diseases, etc. 

Once you ignore it, everything seems to come crashing down. Maybe this is one of the fundamental ideas of old school play."

Come to think of it, this is much bigger than "old school play" - or even RPGs. 

The interaction between different time scales is an existential question.

If I eat a chocolate now, I will feel good for seconds, and it might take weeks of chocolate to get fat, and months to lose that fat.

To write a book, I have to put an effort for hours and days, and then I'll have it forever (or until the next revision).

A kind word to a loved one might make little difference now, but every moment can eventually add up to me looking differently to the past twenty years.

And ultimately, maybe we have to consider time scales that include more than a lifetime. Maybe PC death is necessary for PC lives to be meaningful; if everything (i.e., the campaign) ends because of a TPK, what difference did the PCs make?

But that is probably a subject for another post.

INSANE MAGE NERF - one spell per day!

In my endless quest to nerf B/X magic-users, this might be my most radical idea:

Magic-users (MU) and clerics get to memorize ONE spell per day.

A 10-th level MU 10 still has 14 spells or so, but it takes a couple of weeks to memorize all.

This makes spell slots a more "time sensitive" resource like HP, rations, and everything else.

When the party is planning an expedition, spell choice becomes part of the planning - do we have enough torches? Should I memorize "light" instead? What about cure potions and "cure light wounds"? We are not taking the thief this time... should we get "Knock"? Etc.

BTW, CHANGING your selection of spell has the same cost. You cannot rewrite your selection of spells overnight.

If that's too harsh, let the MU recover a number of spell levels equal to their level (e.g., a 10th level MU can recover 3 fireballs and 1 magic missile) or any other solution you find adequate. 

I'm tempted to say "one day per spell level" so you'd need three days to recover fireball. 

Again, it sounds too harsh - but the fireball causes at least 5d6 damage. A fighter would need one to two weeks to recover from one.

MUs would need to be more careful about their spells, which I like. OTOH, they need to be able to do something else while hoarding spells, so I'd probably let them have swords, cantrips, or something similar.

In practice, this is just a random idea - I don't really use spell slots in my games.

But I've seem this happen again and again in my BXish games: the fighter needs at least a week to recover, while the cleric and MU just recover all the spells overnight. Fortunately, the cleric can just cure everyone in a day, which makes him an obligatory character in any party.

I think I'm always nerfing the spellcasters because most of my campaigns happen in the wilderness - on average, there is less than one combat encounter per day and the MU fireballs everything. 

Dungeons help, but PCs fall into the "5 minutes workday" pattern, which is a whole issue...

Unlimited D&D x Limited D&D

These are two different perspectives for playing D&D, or, more specifically, running/DMing D&D. 

One is that your options are somewhat limited whatever is included in the game rules (I'll call this "Limited D&D" or LD&D). 

The other is that there is no such limit, and the DM can come up with whatever he deems necessary for his campaign ("Unlimited D&D" or UD&D).

This is not about "House Rules x RAW", however. 

It is about the number of pieces you get to build your setting: for example, how many monsters, races, classes, magic items or spells you can use in your creations.

I would guess most groups would quickly accept that the DM can include new monsters to the setting as desired, but this is an assumption that often gets ignored when discussing old school D&D. 

For example, I always found that "immunity to ghoul paralysis" was a silly trait to give a class or creature because it is so specific. But if you are only using Moldvay's Basic - and not even expert - it could be an interesting advantage, since the total number of monsters is low. Still, people keep using it even when playing some form of UD&D.

Same for the cleric "turn undead" tables that include the NAMES of the creatures turned instead of their HD. If the number of undead are limited, this makes perfect sense; otherwise, it looks strange and impractical.

(A more extreme example is the blink dog and its hatred of displacer beasts. B/X tell us almost nothing about these creatures, but they attack each other on sight. How often will that happen? If you're playing UD&D, almost never).

There are other aspects of old school D&D that seem to be remnants of this limited mindset. For example, clerics and mages cannot use sword, which is important if most magic weapons are swords, but becomes less important if you have several magic maces or daggers.

Another example I've been struggling with lately is spells. I've been running a game slightly based on B/X, which does not contain "counter spell", exactly. But now I'm introducing an NPC for another system that has this spell. Is it fair to my caster that he didn't get to choose it?

(My solution for this is: if my player shows interest in Dispel Magic, I'll let it function as a counterspell. Fortunately, he hasn't got it so far).

Personally, I was always attracted to this "Unlimited" take on RPGs in general. I'm willing to add new monsters, spells and even the ocasional laser guns to my games, and always tried to accommodate every character concept the players suggest (although now I'm tempted to go mall-human for the next campaign).

But there are advantages of the "limited" perspective - it allows players to get more familiar with existing monsters, spells, etc., for example.

And, in general, I want to expand the boundaries rather than destroying them. I would definitely not limit the number of monsters I can use in my games, but I'm perfectly satisfied with running a limited number of monster types: undead, giants, humanoids, beasts, etc.

In fact, having fewer monster types reinforces their significance rather than diluting it.

(This is partly what Teratogenicon is about, BTW).

If every single monster, spell or item the PCs find is completely new, they can never learn anything except trough direct contact. There is no room for extrapolation, generalization, etc.

I have a similar feeling on classes. Yes, I like paladins, assassins, warlords, druids, avengers, and monks. But rather than having a dozen classes, I prefer having FOUR: fighter, mage, thief, cleric, each with a few variations. And I think the AD&D bard - a class that works in a completely different way from other classes - is an unnecessary mess.

(Maybe I'll reduce it to THREE classes for my Sword and Sorcery game, ditching the cleric).
Even 5e seems to have problems with this (correct me if I'm wrong; I don't play 5e anymore). For example, the "Staff of Charming" requires attunement by "a bard, cleric, druid, sorcerer, warlock, or wizard". But what if I'm using a 3rd-party class, or even the very popular artificer? Are they automatically excluded? Or do including a class requires rewriting all magic items like that?

As you can see, seeing classes through a limited scope simplifies some aspects of the game.

(This is partly what Old School Feats is about, BTW - no extra classes but many additional options. You can look at the free previews to see how I treat fighters, for example: a framework to create warriors, paladins, rangers and warlords).

In short, my favorite approached to D&D is having unlimited choices within a limited framework that works as a common language between players and DM.

Minimalist magic resistance (B/X)

As much as I love B/X, I often miss something from AD&D. I tried playing AD&D but found it too complex. What I often do, instead, is simplifying AD&D ideas to use in my B/X(ish) games.

Case in point, I find that magic-users in B/X are just too powerful (and Fighters are too weak, but let's leave that for another day). 

AD&D got things right by adding spell components and magic resistance (MR) to the game - now so you cannot defeat EVERY enemy with a good fireball or two (except for a couple of golems that are immune to fire).

What AD&D gets wrong is adding a MR to EVERY creature (and about 80% of the time, the MR is "standard", which means it can just be ignored).

Here's a simpler version (or two...)

Method 1.

Only a few special creatures have MR.

To "defeat" the MR, a magic-user must roll 1d20+level and beat the target's MR.

For demons, the MR is 12+HD.

For devils, either use the same or 8+HD.

(This is, assuming your B/X games have demons and devils).

For faeries, the MR is 20 regardless of HD.

For golems, AD&D has special rules, but they are mostly impervious to magic. Either use 12+HD like demons, or AD&D rules as written.

If you don't want to calculate for every creature, just make it 20 to everyone - which is similar to giving 50% in AD&D.

Method 2.

Method 1 is already a huge simplification over AD&D. But here is something even simpler:

Demons, devils, faeries and golems have a +10 bonus to saving throws against spells (if the spell doesn't have a saving throw, they get the chance to roll a save with no bonus).

If they succeed by 10 or more, they completely ignore any effects (e.g., instead of taking 50% damage from a fireball, they take none).

If you want to take MU level into account, the target gets a penalty equal to half the MU level.

Notice that in AD&D 2e, the caster's level is ignored. 

So you could just, say, give 50% MR to every monster that has MR, or use 2e monsters as written (which is probably the easiest way of them all...).

AD&D ability tests, streamlined

 As I've mentioned in my Hyperborea review (check it pout!), I really liked how the game tries to streamline AD&D ability checks: 

This is a simpler version of the (much more complex) original, which included percentile Strength (see OSRIC, for example):

TRENGTH	BONUS TO HIT	BONUS TO DAMAGE	ENCUMBRANCE ADJUSTMENT (IN LBS)	MINOR TESTS, E.G. FORCING DOORS (CHANCE ON D6)	MAJOR TESTS, E.G. BENDING BARS AND LIFTING PORTCULLIS (CHANCE ON D%)
3	-3	-1	-35	1	0
4-5	-2	-1	-25	1	0
6-7	-1	0	-15	1	0
8-9	0	0	0	1-2	1
10-11	0	0	0	1-2	2
12-13	0	0	+10	1-2	4
14-15	0	0	+20	1-2	7
16	0	+1	+35	1-3	10
17	+1	+1	+50	1-3	13
18	+1	+2	+75	1-3	16
18.01-18.50	+1	+3	+100	1-3	20
18.51-18.75	+2	+3	+125	1-4	25
18.76-18.90	+2	+4	+150	1-4	30
18.91-18.99	+2	+5	+200	1-4 (1 in 6 extraordinary success)	35
19	+3	+6	+300	1-5 (1 in 6 extraordinary success)	40

Although I like the simpler version I think it would be easier to go even simpler - while keeping vaguely similar chances.

Here is a simple formula:

- Ordinary ability checks: roll under ability.

- Extraordinary checks: roll under ability-10 if your ability is remarkable enough (13+, which is where you start getting modifiers), otherwise it is a % roll. 

Alternatively, just make a percentile roll with HALF you ability score if you want to keep things more similar to the original, or your whole ability if truly exceptional (17+).

[You could probably achieve interesting results with 2d20 for extraordinary checks: less than 1% for Strength 3, and about 38% for Strength 18. But this is YET ANOTHER system to try someday...). 

Other tables could be similarly replaced: 

- "Survive" checks (Constitution): roll under ability, you get a +4 bonus.

- Thieves' skills are extraordinary checks, but add level to your ability before rolling.

Of course, the exact numbers do not really matter. It depends on what you're trying to achieve.

This is just another example of ability checks I found interesting (I probably wrote more than a dozen in this blog already, this was probably the most recent, using 1d30).

Anyway, just another skill system for you to play with if you don't like sheets with lots of data or consulting tables during the game.

Minimalist roll-to-cast, take 2

My previous attempt was not minimalist enough, as pointed in the comments. So let's try this again.

The MU gets one spell per level.

Maximum spell level is equal to half your level.

To cast, make a spell saving throw - adding your Int modifier, but subtracting spell level.

Failure means one of the following (PC's choice):

- You lose 1 HP per spell level, AND the spell fails.

- You cannot cast the same spell until tomorrow.

A natural 1 means BOTH happen, or one plus spells mishap (spell goes wild, Earthsea style).

A natural 20 means the spell was particularly powerful.

Yes, I like this version even better!

Clerics get half as many spells (starting on level 2). Is this too much of a nerf? Consider they have more HP to cast spells, more levels (per XP), and a potentially lots of healing powers with this one. Probably deserves further reflection.

Minimalist roll-to-cast

Not entirely my idea, I read it somewhere and added a little twist.

Here it goes: the MU gets one spell per level.

To cast, roll 1d20 equal/under Intelligence.

Failure means one of the following (PC's choice):

- The spell fails.

- You lose 1 HP per spell level.

- You cannot cast the same spell until tomorrow.

Failure also means you must make a spell saving throw - a new failure means that the GM randomly chooses a second consequence from the list (alternatively, he may create a spell fumble if you're exhausted enough that losing HP means death. This is because otherwise no one would ever want to learn magic).

A natural 20 could mean all three things happen, but a natural 1 means your next casting gets a bonus.

Clerics: maybe they need to roll under wisdom and only get half as many spells. "Cure" spells are always a problem with HP-based spells, so that might need some consideration.

Consequences:

- The system is a bit harsh, especially at lower levels, if you're using 3d6 in order*.

- Clerics are somewhat safer casters because of their HP and better saves. Good.

- Level is taken into account through HP and saves.

- Low-level MUs can cast high-level spells but they risk their lives or a magical mishap. Neat!

- Other classes can cast spells, maybe with a penalty?

- Spells in combat become more dynamic, with failure and even death being possible consequences.

* Come to think of it, maybe memorized spells are rolled with "advantage" or whatever - provided you're rolling 3d6 in order for PCs. If using AD&D methods, this is probably unnecessary (give a penalty to non-memorized spells instead).

Cutting fireballs in half

A small addition to a recent post.

As people noticed in the comments, it is not such a huge deal. But a random idea came to mind.

What if we just cut everything by half? Say, magic-users have a "Sorcery" skill that is half their level, round up (clerics use 1/3 level, round to nearest integer).

With sorcery 3, you can cast level 3 spells. Also, fireball does 1d6 damage per sorcery level. In B/X, this would mean 7d6 at most, but up to 10d6 in AD&D.

Now, to replace spell slots, just roll 1d20, add your sorcery level (and maybe INT), subtract spell level. 20 or more means you get to keep the spell. 

Or use spell points.

Magic-missile follow a similar pattern; you can throw three at once only when you get level 6 spells (3d6+3 with no saves and ignoring armor is not bad).

MAYBE you can choose to "upcast" by dealing maximum damage and losing the spell automatically, which adds a risk-reward aspect and allows you to cast fireball with its former glory once a day.

This makes magic-users weaker. To compensate, they use fighter XP table and can use any weapon and armor.

This doesn't really "solve" D&D magic but would allow to give old school games a stronger S&S feel - fireballs are less impressive, charm and sleep are still powerful, and wizards rely on swords often.

BTW: maybe the same goes for dragons. 10 HD means 5d6 breath. So PCs have a fighting chance - even if you give them more HD.

Anyway, just a random thought for now.

My fireball problem

My fireball problem (in B/X) is the fact that, in wilderness adventuring, the magic-user (MU) can destroy most encounters with a single fireball.

Facing another MU is deadly: he can cause a TPK with a single fireball. 

The fighter will probably survive, but so wounded that the magic-user now has a decent chance of finishing him with a dagger (if the fighter can close in right after the fireball; otherwise, a magic missile could finish the job). 

MUs are also very susceptible to fireballs, so if two MUs are fighting, it boils down to "whoever wins initiative wins the duel".

In addition, fireballs are recovered every day - while the HP lost takes days or weeks. 

So the magic-user is likely to have his fireball prepared at any time (if you roll for encounters once a day - more than that feels strange to me), but the fighter may be wounded from previous encounters.

I do not think I'm the only one to have this problem - the Rules Cyclopedia limits fireball damage at high levels, and AD&D has complex mechanics to allow for spell interrupting, and monsters with magic resistance.

There are no easy solutions here.

I think old school spells are just not balanced. And the MU is a glass cannon - does lots of damage but is incredibly fragile.

I suggested a system in Alternate Magic which limits fireball damage to 2d6 per spell level. The fireball is just as deadly, but a 10d6 fireball requires the same resources as a fifth level spell (e.g., you must spend your 5th level spell slot).

Come to think of it, maybe spell recovery should take a bit longer (if you're using 1d3 HP recovered per day). 

Maybe recover half level per day in spell slots?

So, a 6th-level could always recover at least one fireball per day, but not two, and definitely not all spells at once.

I don't know. Maybe I should just accept that I need to stick to an entire new magic system instead of trying to adapt old school Vancian spells.

P.S.: I have a similar problem with old school dragons and their breath weapons. 1d4 dragons causing 40 damage each... if the PCs lose initiative, they are (literally) toast before they can run. Dragon battles end in the first round unless one of the dragons save successfully. I might change dragon breath to 1d6 per HD to give their victims a better chance.

AD&D DMG cover to cover - part IX, pages 114-169 (MAGIC RESEARCH/ITEMS and TREASURE)

We´ve been reading the original DMG - the ultimate DM book! - but from a B/X and OSR point-of-view.

Check the other parts of this series here. 

Today we discuss MAGICAL RESEARCH, USE OF MAGIC ITEMS and TREASURE.

MAGICAL RESEARCH 114

— CREATION OF HOLY/UNHOLY WATER 114

— SPELL RESEARCH 115

— FABRICATION OF MAGIC ITEMS, INCLUDING POTIONS AND SCROLLS 116

— NON-STANDARD MAGIC ITEMS 118

USE OF MAGIC ITEMS 118

— COMMAND WORDS 118

— CRYSTAL BALLS & SCRYING 119

— DRINKING POTIONS 119

— APPLYING OILS 119

— POTION MISCIBILITY 119

— ENERGY DRAINING BY UNDEAD OR DEVICE 119

TREASURE 120

— RANDOM TREASURE DETERMINATION120

— EXPLANATIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS OF MAGIC ITEMS 125

— Potions 125

— Scrolls 127

— Rings 129

— Rods, et al (Including Staves and Wands) 132

— Miscellaneous Magic 136

Artifacts and Relics 155

Armor and Shields 164

Swords 165

— Miscellaneous Weapons 168

MAGICAL RESEARCH

This section contains detailed rules explaining how the PCs can create potions, spells, scrolls and magic items in general.

It mixes "hard" rules (e.g., costs and durations for the various tasks) with common sense advice (e.g., do not allow spells that are too powerful, compare new spells to existing ones, and so on). 

Holy water is treated first, apart from other potions/items, for no apparent reason. Nothing particularly interesting here.

Spell research is next. The rules are simple enough: "The basic cost for spell research is only 200 gold pieces per spell level per week", research takes a couple of week per spell level (and total dedication from the researcher).

There is an easy formula to calculate chances of success. Since the process requires repeated rolls, the chances of success look very slim.

Fabrication of magic items, potions and scrolls begins by saying "A properly run campaign will be relatively stringent with respect to the number of available magic items, so your players will sooner or later express a desire to manufacture their own".

Keep this in mind.

Beginning at 14th level an illusionist may attempt to make items with a truly permanent dweomer, such as a +1 dagger or a ring of protection, for example.

I find this example interesting for two reasons: it would seem that a +1 dagger is very weak for a 14th level illusionist; and there is no +1 dagger on the rest of the chapter (see below). But this is just a curiosity, it doesn't affect the example.

Potion creation is also described with relatively simple rules. They may require special ingredients, such as powdered kobold horn or a mind flayer brain. Neat!

Scrolls follow the same pattern: some clear and somewhat arbitrary rules, some interesting details (about the fabrication of ink), etc.

Magic item creation is described in a vague manner; apparently, the rules must be completed with the PHB.  

One example mentions using a "wish" spell to create a ring of spell storing. I am almost tempted to check to see if the PHB explains why you can't just with for such a ring, but I'll focus on the DMG for now.

"In all cases, the manufacture of any magic item other than a potion or scroll will be so debilitating as to necessitate the maker to rest for one day for each 100 g.p. of the item’s experience point value, i.e. one with a 2,000 experience point value means 20 days of complete rest.". 

Okay.

USE OF MAGIC ITEMS

This section describes miscellaneous questions: command words, crystal balls, drinking potions (it takes 1d4+1 "segments" for them to work), oils, and energy draining by undead and devices - which apparently has almost NOTHING TO DO WITH MAGIC ITEMS, except for the fact that one or two magic items (out of hundreds) can drain levels (like undead).

Sigh.

Well, we do get a very cool table about what happens when you mix potions - they might cancel each other, improve, turn into poison or even EXPLODE - sometimes after you have imbibed two portions! 

Fun stuff!

TREASURE

This section does not talk much about all kinds treasure, but mostly about magic items (plus MAPS). There is no mention of other possible treasures, such as art, fine clothing or luxurious items.

"PLACEMENT OF MONETARY TREASURE" is back in page 91.

A hoard may contain a map to another treasure. Nice. Keeps PCs adventuring.

This map will lead to more magic treasure about 30% of the time.

Magic treasure contains 2-3 items on average.

Remember that "a properly run campaign will be relatively stringent with respect to the number of available magic items"? I'm not sure the author followed this advice, but this is an error already admitted back in the treasure section. I mean, the campaign section.

Here, the author also advises to "Keep potent magic items rare. (Increase scarcity by destroying or stealing what is found!)". 

To me, it would be easier just to give away fewer items.

Pages 121-169 is just a long list of tables and magic items.

And, I must say, this one is incredibly creative and comprehensive.

The author really knocked the ball out of the park with this one.

There are hundreds of items, with sub-tables to give them unique traits, resulting in literally millions of possibilities.

Lots of things have values in gold and XP. 

Some items are almost self-explanatory (sword +2), other require detailed explanations. 

There are a few ridiculously tautological descriptions such as:

"Leather armor +1 is usable by those characters permitted to wear this form of armor."

Several items have unique effects. Some also have unique stories. 

There is not much about their appearances, unfortunately, except to notice magic items often look ordinary (the word "normal" is also mentioned many times).

Sometimes, items look like other magic items, that look ordinary... which doesn't make much sense. For example, the Horn of Bubbles "appears as a normal horn, or possibly any one of the many magical  ones". 

In other words: some magic items look ordinary. But the PCs will know some of them are magic anyway - and end up using cursed items because of that.

---

Allow me a brief detour. 

This is from Supplement I - Greyhawk:

Horn of Bubbles: This device exactly resembles a Horn of Valhalla, but when it is sounded it will bring forth a cloud of bubbles which surround its holder, completely obscuring his vision for 4-12 turns.

Greyhawk doesn't explain if there is anything special about the looks of the Horn of Valhalla (except the metal from which it is made).

In short, the author seemed to assume initially that the players would know a Horn of Valhalla, and then the Horn of Bubbles was created as a trap. But now both look ordinary, and the "trap" only works if you detect magic on it and hope for a positive effect. And the Horn of Valhalla is, by itself, a trap now (unlike the original version, you have to be a certain class or get attacked).

Anyway, I find these "trap items" curious, but for my players I'd give some items a distinct appearance and let them try it at their peril, without the need for confusing a magic item for another.

---

Scrolls are described here too. The author obsessively assigns different reading times, in segment, for each scroll. I cannot see myself powering through to this level of detail.

Rods, staves and wands are implement to create various magical effects. Each has its own limited number of charges. The obsession with segments often appears here too.

"At your option 1% of all wands are trapped to backfire." 

Yes, please!

MISCELLANEOUS MAGIC is a catch-all category of magic items. It includes swords (separated from other weapons - and "scimitar" is under other weapons...), armors and shields, in addition to powerful artifacts and relics.

This organization feels completely arbitrary, like many other DMG sections.

But the contents are awesome- the book includes most D&D classic items you can think of: Bag of Holding, Book of Vile Darkness, Deck of Many Things, Figurines of Wondrous Power, Gauntlets of Ogre Power, Ioun Stones, Portable Hole... in short, more items than you could ever use, and this is before we get to artifacts and relics!

So, let's get to them!

"Each artifact or relic is a singular thing of potent powers and possibly strange side effects as well. Regardless of how any of these items come into your campaign, only 1 of each may exist." 

These things are truly legendary - the book gives you a description, but you must assign powers and effects by yourself from other tables:

Because of the unique nature of each artifact and relic, their powers are only partially described. You, the Dungeon Master, must at least decide what the major powers of each item are to be. This prevents players from gaining any knowledge of these items, even if they happen to own or read a copy of this

volume, and it also makes each artifact and relic distinct from campaign to campaign.

As you can see, the fear that players might know the items beforehand was constant - but not a real problem in my games.

While this is a nice idea to provide great variety and mystery to magic items, it looks like a time-consuming process (the powers are not organized in a "random table" fashion; you choose them instead of rolling) and weakens the "mythic" significance of the items somehow (e.g., legends about the Axe of Dwarvish Lords should tell you about its properties - but since the Axe appears randomly, you're unlikely to assign effects before the PCs find it).

I can understand the reasoning - some effects would not mix well with certain items. But maybe you could list most effects and add some notes on replacing them as necessary.

These artifacts, as you can see, are very busy; the axe has lots of special powers even before you add your own.

There is not much more to say about swords, armor, etc., except that, again, all the classics are here: intelligent swords, Vorpal swords, Mace of Disruption, etc. Some are inspired by classic fantasy, of course, but overall this is a comprehensive list.

Most swords (and daggers) shed light when drawn, which is a good idea because it allows fighters to take advantage of them without detect magic. This doesn't seem to apply to maces, axes, etc.

A table of random weapons and another table of random weapon effects would be nice. But this is not hard to extrapolate from existing weapons and tables (e.g., the table in page 125, that lacks a simple "dagger +1", and the one for swords on page 124). 

Overall, these items are all very flavorful and varied. They resemble myth, fantasy, sci-fi, weird science, and even cartoons. The author suggested some restraint when allowing different races. Here, the reasoning seems to be that "everything goes". 

And I think this makes the game more fun. You could use this list to any weird setting.

Some final notes:

Armor of +3 bonus is of special meteorite iron steel, +4 is mithral alloyed steel, +5 is adamantite alloyed steel.

Makes me think a +1 weapon could simply be made of "Valyrian" or Damascus steel, for example, something I considered here.

Axes (hand, not battle) can be thrown up to 3” with the hit probability bonus, but no damage bonus.

Note to self: write a post about how old school D&D was right to limit the damage caused by ranged attacks.

And... that is it. We finished the main part of the DMG! 

The rest in appendices - which contain some great stuff too.

What have we learned today?

This is one of the best sections to use with your B/X games (or any OSR game). Having clear rules to create/buy potions and magic items is handy. Having more magic items to choose from is useful. Powerful weapons are a cool addition for fighters.

Despite any criticisms about the organization and verbosity (and I know I have been too harsh at some points), these items are classics, and will certainly add fun and variety to your table.

It is very interesting to look at the 5e DMG and see that, compared to the original, the "improvements" were really limited - and I don't remember many games with better magic items either (IIRC correctly, Numenera is largely based around discovering magic items, but I haven't played it).

BTW, check Dark Fantasy Magic Items if you want something leaner, with more random tables, or 100 Magic Weapons for finished examples.

Coming next... the APPENDICES begin! 

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