============================================================ || || || DRAGONQUEST Newsletter January 1999 || || || || Volume 5 / Number 1 || ============================================================ The DQ Newsletter is for discussions of the DragonQuest role- playing game. The key addresses you need to know are: Rodger Thorm (Editor, Article Submissions, Etc.) dqn@ntsource.com All articles are copyrighted property of their respective authors. Reproducing or republishing an article, in whole or in part, in any other forum requires permission of the author or the moderator. The DragonQuest Newsletter website is at: http://www.ntsource.com/~psproefrock/dqn.html [if you are typing it, note that the server _IS_ case-sensitive!] This site will be updated soon. It will contain the most recent issue of the newsletter as well as links to (ftp) archives and other DragonQuest related sites. ----------------------------------------------------------------- C O N T E N T S [v5/n1] ================================================================= Editorial – An Open Letter to the Readers Letters -- Perry Cooper New Magic Rules – Simon Cordner Minor Rules – Stephen Martin Advertisements DragonQuest URLs Survey ----------------------------------------------------------------- EDITORIAL: An Open Letter to the Readers ================================================================= Once again, the DragonQuest Newsletter arises, like a phoenix from the ashes, to try to reach out and connect the DQ community. Those of you who have written in the intervening two years to ask whether or not the Newsletter is still being produced have each helped push this along one more step to the point where I am now putting out this new issue of the Newsletter. DragonQuest is still a mostly forgotten, little played, old game that a few core fans still remember with great fondness. That's why we are here. As members of this small group, we try to connect with others who share our interests. New resources are available to connect the DragonQuest community in ways that weren't previously used. The biggest of these (that I am aware of) is the WebRPG forum: [http://townhall.webrpg.com/index.phtml?groupid=5 9] A group of DQ loyalists has started regularly using this message center as a sort of micro newsgroup for DragonQuest. Personally, I find the navigation and format of the WebRPG site a great pain, but I'll put up with it because there is interesting DQ activity taking place there. Those of you who haven't yet ventured to explore this site should take a few minutes to explore. Among the activities that are being started up through the WebRPG site are a DragonQuest Players Association, a network of DragonQuest Web Masters (and many new DQ websites), online DQ campaign (or campaigns?), a petition drive to press Wizards of the Coast (the company which now owns TSR which owns the rights to DragonQuest) to publish or release the game, and more. You can find out about these activities at the WebRPG DragonQuest forum, but I also hope that some of the other involved parties will send news of their projects to the Newsletter as well. One other note: Following in SPI's footsteps, I am instituting a Survey Card which will be attached to the end of every Newsletter from now on. This will allow me to gather some feedback regarding the Newsletter and help make the DQN more responsive to what you are looking for. Please take a minute to fill it out and send it back. Rodger Thorm DQN Editor ------------------------_L_E_T_T_E_R_S_-------------------------- ================================================================= I happened upon your DragonQuest website recently and thought I would drop you a line concerning the magazine article dealing with the "College of White Magicke." You're correct, it came from ADVENTURE GAMING magazine; to be precise, it was issue 13, published in 1982. The article appears on pages 34-35. I happen to be the author of that article. I also had another article in the same issue, but it wasn't related to DragonQuest. I was working for ADVENTURE GAMING magazine a lot in those days. The magazine, of course, is now defunct.  In case you're interested, I'd like to take a moment to clear up a few points regarding the DragonQuest article. First, I certainly wasn't a DragonQuest expert; I was a D&D player, and never actually played DragonQuest.Ę But as I recall, the editor wanted a DragonQuest article, and after reading up on the game, I was surprised to find that there was a college of Black Magic but not a college of White Magic. That struck me as strange, and it also struck me as odd that, in addition to casting "bad" spells (such as spells to blight crops), the members of the college of Black Magic could cast "good" spells (such as spells which could enhance the cultivation of crops). I couldn't see the logic in that; I figured there should be a college of White Magic which specialized in "good" spells such as those which enhanced crops, and a college of Black Magic, which specialized in "bad" spells such as those which blighted crops. So I proposed the creation of a college of White Magic; the editor (Tim Kask) liked the idea and published the article. I can't remember why the word Magic was spelled "Magicke" in the article; I'm sure we had some reason for it, because we were both professionals. I can assure you that it wasn't a matter of us being unable to spell the word correctly. But that was a long time ago, and I just can't remember why the decision was made to spell the word that way.  Your website's summary of the article states that the article contains almost nothing original. If that's referring to new spells, it's correct; there are only a few new spells/rituals in the article, partly because we were dealing with limited space (Tim didn't have the room for a 10-page list of new spells) and partly because the purpose of the article wasn't to provide a bunch of new spells. The purpose of the article was to present my idea that, if you're going to have a college of Black Magic, you might also consider having a college of White Magic, with the college of Black Magic getting all the "bad" spells and the college of White Magic getting all the "good" spells. I realize that's not an especially groundbreaking idea, but it seemed to me that some players might prefer to have their characters deal in White Magic, and I couldn't see why DragonQuest failed to provide them with that option, giving them a college of Black Magic but no college of White Magic. I thought it was an idea worth sharing, even if it wasn't earth-shattering.  Anyway, I was pleased to find my article listed on your website. I used to do a lot of magazine writing, and most of my material has long since been forgotten. It's nice to see that some of the articles are still remembered here and there.  --Perry Cooper (ptcooper@megsinet.net) ----------------------------------------------------------------- NEW MAGIC RULES -- Simon Cordner (scordner@math.concordia.ab.ca) ================================================================= Some new rules, and a few clarifications... 1) Ritual Sorcery (new rule) Adepts may combine together to cast a spell or ritual, so long as they are all of the same college and are all familiar with the spell or ritual to be cast. When casting the spell/ritual, the effective rank will be equal to the highest rank present, plus one for every other Adept present. The MA and WP of the spell/ritual (if applicable) is equal to the highest WP / MA present, again, with a plus one bonus for each Adept past the first one. Spells receiving the benefits of ritual sorcery cannot be shaped into an item. 2) Illusions as Weapons (clarification) Illusionists wishing to cause an entity harm with an illusory attack (such as weapons, gas, or an illusionary spell) can only create a +DM equal to their rank in Tactile Illusions. This is not applied to more devious, subtle illusions, such as making someone believe they are falling off a cliff or other, more “natural” ways of dying. Also note that a weapon causing more damage than possible (an illusionary dagger doing something like 24 points of damage), or someone wielding an oversized weapon (such as a Halfling with a Giant Axe), gives the subject a +30 bonus to disbelieve in addition to other bonuses, and gets an automatic chance to disbelieve. 3) Minimum MA (clarification) To calculate minimum MA to join a college, reread rule [34.7], as well as ARCANE WISDOM (don’t forget to include new spells into the equation!); feel free to manipulate as needed. The listed formula is: Gen. Spells + Gen. Rituals + 2 (Counterspells) + 2 (Ritual of Preparation, Ritual of Purification) = minimum MA 4) Spells that Enhance the Abilities of Weapons Are Not Cumulative (clarification) Only the highest Ranked spell will work (so no shaping Weapon of Cold, Weapon of Flames, Shadowsword, Enchanting Weapon (from the E & E College), and Enchanting Weapon (from Shaping) into the same weapon, for a massive bonus). 5) Learning Spells from Other Colleges (optional rule) If you feel as though your mages are being cheated because they cannot cast spells outside their college, try this variant. Keep in mind that all listed experience multiples are only guidelines, and you may wish to make it more difficult to learn from other colleges. After all, mages are the most powerful characters already; there’s little to be gained from making them more so. variant 1: Adepts may learn spells and rituals (but not talents) from other colleges in their Branch of Magic. Exceptions to this include: Fire mages learning Water spells, Black Magicians learning Light spells, etc. When learning from another college, the experience multiples are doubled. variant 2: Adepts may only learn extra spells and rituals from the College of Shaping Magics, and at double cost. Shapers may learn from any other college for double cost. (This may be combined with any other options or implemented alone with little hassle or cause for alarm). variant 3: Adepts may learn from ANY second college for double the cost -- the Adept can only learn spells and rituals. The third college the Adept learns from triples the cost of that college’s spells and rituals, the fourth college to learn from will have quadruple the costs, etc. variant 4: Adepts may become non-specialist mages (to be chosen at the time of character creation). These mages choose two colleges from the same Branch, and can learn any spell, talent or ritual in those colleges at double cost. Alternatively, the character could choose to become a Generalist, and learn from ANY college in a particular Branch at triple the cost. Characters would need an MA at least high enough to enter any college they wish to have access to. If you use any of the variants (except variant 4) you will probably want to limit the maximum Rank achievable by Adepts in their second college (probably Rank 10), to prevent characters from becoming too ridiculous. Any variant, but especially #1 and #3, can be dangerous. If you are to use any of these, I personally recommend #4 -- it allows diversification without upsetting the balance. #3 is bad news -- think hard about that one if you decide to use it. You may want to consider using the Branch of Magic limitation on #3 (where they can only learn from their own branch), if at all. -- Simon Cordner (scordner@math.concordia.ab.ca) ----------------------------------------------------------------- MINOR RULES -- Stephen Martin ================================================================= A few expansions for some fairly minor rules. Eating & Drinking Rest & Recuperation Infection Falling Cheers, Stephen. ************************************* EATING AND DRINKING 1. REQUIREMENTS The amount of food and water required per day is dependent on many factors. These include the person (endurance, weight, build, metabolic rate and race); the activity (light, medium, hard or strenuous) and the environment or terrain. On average 8 lbs of food and water per day is required. 2. STARVATION 2.1 STARVATION OCCURS: when a character does not have at least 1 nourishing meal a day. 2.2 EFFECTS OF STARVATION: the character will have their Fatigue maximum and Endurance temporarily reduced by 1 each day. This decrease will last until the character starts receiving proper nourishment. 2.3 RECOVERY: a starved character's Fatigue maximum and Endurance will recover by 1 point each day, after the first, that they receive proper nourishment. A healer or physician may increase this by 1 (+1/4 Ranks) per day. A herbalist may prepare meals which will increase this by 1 (+1/3 Ranks) per day. 3. DEHYDRATION 3.1 DEHYDRATION OCCURS: when a character does not have at least 2 pints of water a day. This will increase in high temperatures, +1 pint per 10 degrees above 20 (Celsius). Note: Alcohol counts as 50% water, liquid foods such as soup count as about 90% water, magical potions count as 100% water. 3.2 EFFECTS OF DEHYDRATION: the character will have their Fatigue maximum and Endurance temporarily reduced by 5 each day. If the character receives part of their water requirement, the penalty is reduced. For every 20% (or fraction) less than the daily requirement they lose 1 from FT max and EN. This decrease will last until the character starts receiving adequate quantities of water. 3.3 RECOVERY: a dehydrated character's Fatigue maximum and Endurance will recover by 5 points each day, after the first, that they receive adequate quantities of water. A healer or physician may increase this by 1 (+1/4 Ranks) per day. A herbalist may prepare meals which will increase this by 1 (+1/3 Ranks) per day. ****************************** REST AND RECUPERATION 1. FATIGUE RECOVERY Fatigue is lost through minor damage, exhaustion, spell casting and some spells. Fatigue may be recovered by two main methods. 1.1 EATING: A character may recover Fatigue by eating meals. The amount of Fatigue recovered depends on the quality of the meal: MEAL FATIGUE RECOVERED Filling 1 Hot 1 Balanced 1 These are cumulative, if a meal is Hot and Filling then it is worth 2 Ft. The benefits of a meal may be had not more than three times a day. At least 4 hours must pass between the meals for them to have an effect on Fatigue. 1.2 RESTING AND SLEEPING: The amount of Fatigue that may be recovered due to rest and sleep depends on the restful qualities of the activity. ACTIVITY FATIGUE POINTS/HOUR Relaxation 1 Nap 2 Sleep 3 RELAXATION: The character may not perform any action that requires physical exertion or uses Fatigue. NAP/SLEEP: If a character sleeps for less than 3 hours then they are considered to be napping. A character who chooses to Nap may remain half- aware of their surroundings while resting. A character that does not get at least 8 hours of rest and/or sleep per day, will have their Fatigue maximum temporarily reduced by 1 FT per hour (or fraction) of sleep under 8. This may be recovered at the rate of 1 FT per 4 hours sleep. 2. ENDURANCE RECOVERY There are many causes of a character taking Endurance damage. However, once damaged there are two primary methods of recovering. 2.1 NATURAL HEALING: A character will recover 1 Endurance for every 2 days rest. The recuperation will be ineffective and interrupted if the character: -takes any further EN damage -uses more than half their FT -does not receive adequate nourishment. [Ref. Eating & Drinking] 2.2 BEING HEALED: Healers, physicians, and some magics may aid the recovery of Endurance. The exact effects can be found under the appropriate skill or magic. 3. GRIEVOUS INJURIES Endurance loss resulting from Specific Grievous injuries may not be healed normally. The specific injury must be healed, then the Endurance may be recovered. 3.1 NATURAL HEALING OF SPECIFIC INJURIES: Many injuries will not heal naturally. The following states which injuries will heal, and how long it will take. BROKEN BONES: Will knit in 4 weeks for a simple fracture, or up to 10 weeks for a compound fracture. A bone must be properly set before the bone may knit together. INTERNAL INJURIES: A character will usually die from internal injuries. If the character is comfortable, unmoving, and kept alive by a healer or physician, internal injuries will heal 1 Endurance point per week. OPEN WOUNDS: Will heal at half the normal rate, provided that they are kept free of infection. Open wounds will leave scars. REMOVED BODY PARTS: Will not regrow naturally. However, they will heal over at quarter the normal rate, provided they are kept free from infection. 3.2 MAGICAL HEALING OF SPECIFIC INJURIES: Healers and certain magics may heal specific injuries. The time taken and effects of these magics may be found under the appropriate skill or magic. ************************************ INFECTION In this world there exists a number of malign influences which cause sickness and disease. A healthy person is rarely troubled by these influences, for they are repelled by a clean mind and healthy body. However, when you are feeling weak or have been wounded, the influences can successfully invade your body. Once they have a foothold, they will not be driven forth easily, nor will they let your wounds heal. Eventually these insidious influences will drain all the life essence from your body, and breed in the lifeless husk. 1. BECOMING INFECTED When an entity is wounded or otherwise suffers Endurance damage, there is a chance that they will become infected. The chance of becoming infected depends on the entities health, the type of injury and the environment the entity is in, modifiers are cumulative but only one from each category. Current Endurance is ... Half or more 10% Less than half 20% There is a wound which is... Shallow +5% Deep +10% Exposed bone/Organs +25% Penetrating Abdomen +50% There is a wound which is... Dirty +20% Heavily contaminated +50% The environment is ... Dry - 5% Humid +20% The average temperature (Celsius) is ... Below 0 +20% 1 - 5 +10% 30 - 40 +10% Above 40 +20% A roll is made every 12 hours after the Endurance damage was received, until the entity is completely recovered. If the roll is under the infection chance then the entity is infected. If the entity also has Specific Grievous injuries, make an additional infection check for each one. 2. EFFECTS OF INFECTION An entity with an infection will be slowly poisoned by the infection. The damage is [D-4] Endurance per day, until the infection is cured. An infected wound may not be healed until the infection is cured. 3. CURING INFECTION There are two ways to recover from infection. The first is to tough it out. The second is to be healed by a healer or physiker. 3.1 TOUGHING IT OUT: An infected character may make a roll every day to recover naturally. BC: Endurance %. 3.2 HEALING: An infected character may be cured by the arts of a Healer or Physician, or by magic. The rank at which this is possible, and the chance of success can be found under the appropriate skill or spell. ******************************************* 1. FALLING DAMAGE 1.1 ENDURANCE DAMAGE: The damage taken from a fall is equal to (height in feet)/5 general endurance damage. 1.2 SPECIFIC INJURIES: For every full 10 feet fallen after the first 10, one roll must be made on the appropriate Specific Grievous Table (see Combat - Specific Grievous Tables). Most falls do "C" class damage but falling onto stakes would be "A" class and falling onto sharp rocks might be "B" class. 1.3 LANDING ROLL: Some or all of the above damage can be annulled if the entity can fall in such a way as to do less damage to themselves when landing. The chance of landing well is ((AG +(2/Rank of Acrobat)) x Difficulty Factor) - (height fallen in feet). A Sucess reduces the endurance damage taken by 2 and the number of Specific Injuries by 1. A 'Double Effect' reduces the endurance damage taken by 4 and the number of Specific Injuries by 2. A 'Triple Effect' reduces the endurance damage taken by 6 and the number of Specific Injuries by 3. 1.4 DIFFICULTY FACTOR: This is largely based on the surface which is being landed on. Some guidelines follow: Water or a Pile of hay 5x Even surface 4x Uneven surface 3x Steep slope -1x Hard, unforgiving surface -1x Ex. Landing on the side of a rocky mountain would be 1x (Uneven, Steep, Hard surface). -- Stephen Martin ------------------------ADVERTISEMENTS--------------------------- ================================================================= DQN Subscriptions –- If you aren't on the list, send email with your name and your email address to: dqn@ntsource.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- LOST! REWARD! A basilisk has escaped from the menagerie of his excellency Count Dorias de Montegrhi Vyriccha. Answers to the name 'Pooky'. Contact the Majordomo Idrist Pastovane at Castel' Dorias with any pertinent information. ================================================================= DragonQuest URLs: (If you know of any other DragonQuest related sites, please let us know.) --DragonQuest Online http://home.att.net/~aescylus/dq/dragonquest.html --DragonQuest Resources & Links http://www.comnet.ca/~jkahane/dq/dq- links.html --DragonQuest Archive ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/dr/drache --DragonQuest Newsletter Page http://www.ntsource.com/~psproefrock/dqn.html --DragonQuest Home Companion (and other files) http://www.hoboes.com/pub/Role- Playing/Fantasy/DragonQuest/ --Shannon Appel's RPG Archives (DQ Index) ftp://ftp.csua.berkeley.edu/pub/rpg- index/dragonquest --Sword World http://www.best.com/~magsig/swordworld/ --Todd Schreiber's DQ Pages http://www.PlatinumCrown.com/DQ/ --The DragonQuest Homelands http://www.spaceports.com/~dqhome/ --DragonQuest Page http://home.earthlink.net/%7Emjoverton/Dragon.htm l --The Unofficial DQ Homepage http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Hollow/3362/DRAGO N_QUEST/DQ.html --Snafaru's DragonQuest Fan Page http://www.iosphere.net/%7Eeric/dq/ --DragonQuest WWW Pages http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Portal/7471/ DQ/ Discussion Group Sites --WebRPG DragonQuest Town Hall http://townhall.webrpg.com/index.phtml?groupid=59 --DragonQuest Discussion Group http://assembly.nerdworld.com/assembly.asp?assemb lyid=3731 --TW's DragonQuest Page http://web.dbtech.net/~tware/twdq.htm Missing or Inoperative (?) --DragonQuest Home Page http://www.magna.com.au/~dja/dq/ --Seagate Adventurers' Guild (New Zealand Campaign Page) http://stimpy.math.auckland.ac.nz/dq/ --Surge's (Unofficial) Mirror Archive http://www.cqs.washington.edu:80/~surge/gaming/dr agonquest/ DQ NPC Generator http://www.imsweb.net/cgi- bin/garyl/dq_char.cgi Tom Tucker operates a BBS/FidoNet node where he is archiving DragonQuest materials. If you are Fido-savvy, he is fido node 1:170/205. He says "you can freq from me, freq FILES for a complete listing." I have everything that is on the internet, including the modules "The Water Works" and "The Barrow of Calimendil". As for the board, call 918-224-4279 (28.8) or 918-224-0937 (14.4). ================================================================= SURVEY ----------------------------------------------------------------- Please answer all questions. Please do *NOT* quote the whole Newsletter when replying. Only surveys from subscribers will be tabulated. 1. Your Name/email 2. Should the email DragonQuest Newsletter be continued, or are there other resources that better suit your needs? 3. The DragonQuest Newsletter should a. stay as it is, minimally formatted and sent by email with no funky links or other junk. b. become a Listserv so that it doesn't take forever to have a discussion about a topic. c. get with the times and be more graphical, HTML-ized, etc. d. be a web page, and not clog up my mailbox. e. other (please elaborate). 4. The thing I most like about the DragonQuest Newsletter: 5. The thing I find least useful about the DragonQuest Newsletter: ############################################################## ### End of DragonQuest Newsletter v5/n1 –- January 1999 ### ##############################################################