The necromancer's spellbook

The full contents of Berigaard's spellbook are listed below. PCs that have not cast read magic on a spell's specific pages still need to do so prior to attempting to learn the spell:

* = necromancy

• 1st level
• Armor
• Chill touch*
• Color spray
• Detect magic
• Detect undead
• Magic missile
• Mount
• Read magic
• Tenser’s floating disk
• 2nd level
• Knock
• Levitate
• Shatter
• Spectral hand*
• 3rd level
• Feign death*
• Slow
• Vampiric touch*
• 4th level
• Contagion*
• Enervation*
• 5th level
• Animate dead*

Other Findings

Amid the necromancer's scattered parchments, Audric uncovers a few items of note. The first is a writ of passage aboard a ship named Winnower, from Fireshear to Neverwinter, dated early fall in the Year of Silent Steel (1254 DR) and signed by one Captain Elchesir Stormantle.

The second is a letter, unsigned and undated:

To Their Families, Next of Kin, or to Whom it may otherwise Concern:

I regret to inform that two Mercenaries from Fireshear, one Jartheld Olsbane and one Sulndor Mettlehorn, have Sadly Perished at the hands of Deadly Orcs of the Frozenfar whilst under my employ. Rest assured that these brave men Died with Honor, and that Their Remains have been consumed upon a Grand Pyre, nobly befitting their Station. Dispatch return correspondence, if desired, to my Trusted Apprentice.

Your Most Solemn and Humble Servant,

(Vonn recognizes these names as the hired guards who aided Vonn and Berigaard in slaying the frost giant, one year prior.)

The third is a pair of bound volumes, yellowed and weathered from age. One is a book titled Song and Prose of the Frozenfar, a collection of regional poetry and folklore; the other, Cold Ebony, appears to be a study of negative energy, astral projection, and related cosmic and dimensional topics.

Starting spells for bards

I've made some determinations on Zargon's starting spells. First, a review of the relevant passage from the bard class description (2e PH, p. 42):

Since bards are dabblers rather than full-time wizards, their spells tend to be gained by serendipity and happenstance. In no case can a bard choose to specialize in a school of magic. Beginning bards do not have a selection of spells. A 2nd-level bard begins with one to four spells, chosen either randomly or by the DM. (An Intelligence check must still be made to see if the bard can learn a given spell.) The bard is not guaranteed to know read magic, as this is not needed to read the writings in a spell book. The bard can add new spells to his spell book as he finds them, but he does not automatically gain additional spells as he advances in level. All spells beyond those he starts with must be found during the course of adventuring. The bard's casting level is equal to his current level.

This is fairly clear. I'm going to honor the by-the-book rules, for a few reasons: first, there's no compelling incentive to deviate with a house rule; second, the above limitations reinforce that the bard is merely a “dabbler,” as opposed to a specialist wizard or mage; and third, the party is at a safe point with time on their hands such that new spells can be acquired from other characters.

In the interest of moving things forward, I rolled that the following two spells are in Zargon's starting spellbook:

• Grease
• Mending

Of note, I rolled a 2 on 1d4 for the number of spells. Both “chance to learn spell” rolls succeeded, and the specific spells were rolled randomly from the 1st-level wizard spell list. While it can be argued that a 4th-level bard could or should have additional spells beyond what a 2nd-level bard would know (i.e., acquired through adventuring), we haven't set that precedent with anything else (magic items, gold, etc.) in the campaign, so I'd prefer not to start now. (And again, the party is at a point that Zargon can easily expand his repertoire before his first real adventure.)

Hopefully this seems reasonable enough to everyone?

The Malaran aftermath

This is not to imply that a dual-class human forgets everything he knew before; he still has, at his fingertips, all the knowledge, abilities, and proficiencies of his old class. But if he uses any of his previous class's abilities during an encounter, he earns no experience for that encounter and only half experience for the adventure.

(From the 2e PH, p. 45.)

That was really an incredible culmination of this adventure arc. I'd been waiting for an encounter between these parties for some time, unsure of how or when it would manifest, and hoping that Zeb and Audric didn't elect to leave Carrock before it transpired. Depending on the circumstances, they may or may not have been pursued.

Again, I advise the players to revisit Kezia's reading, in order to review it with updated context based on advances in the campaign. At the very least, I think there's musing, if not enlightenment, to be found within.

As for the Malarans, there was certainly a divide within the sect that sought its aclupar in Zeb. Korvich and Carcerus each believed themselves superior to the other; had they reached a point of severance as the power of the cult dwindled, it would likely have come down to whether the magic of Korvich could subdue the "Black Devil" before he and his wolves slaughtered the priest. Carcerus was undoubtedly the more powerful enemy; as he gained sway over the wolves and cultists fell both in Shadfeld and at West Tower, so did control over the alliance escape the Malarans' clutches. Carcerus bore no fealty toward any god; his grand design was to establish dominance over everything he could.

There still are many details to share about these events, but it's probably best to let them emerge gradually, through comments on the blog or as part of future sessions. The PCs did well in securing their victory; Zeb and Audric made sound decisions and used the available resources to great advantage. If the final encounter seemed easy, that's to their credit. The situation could easily have been reversed had the circumstances differed. As I'm particularly fond of saying, success or failure in AD&D is often determined before any dice are rolled.

XP

As this isn't a traditional dungeon-crawl campaign, neither has it made sense to award XP based strictly on treasure found and monsters defeated. While I still want to keep things relatively simple, I'm weighting more heavily the details of the party's accomplishments, in addition to accounting for the dual-class ruling quoted at the top of this post. The critical points to consider are that Zeb should receive no experience for the final encounter, and only half experience for the past two "adventures" (sessions), where he called upon his priestly powers for assistance.

• For "story awards," this means that Zeb only receives 3,000 XP, compared to 4,000 XP for Audric.
• An additional 1,500 XP goes to Audric for miscellaneous recovery of items. Zeb only receives half this share (750 XP).
• A final 1,000 XP is given to Audric for the Malarans and their spoils. Regrettably, this constitutes an "encounter," so Zeb doesn't share in the award at all. (Also keep in mind that there were five participants on the side of the PCs, and total experience has been divided accordingly.)

The values above are rounded for simplicity. Adding them up, and incorporating Zeb's 10% bonus, the total awards are:

• Audric - 6,500
• Zeb - 4,125

The penalty for prematurely employing dual-class powers is very real, and I thought it unfair to not enforce it. Audric has his own XP hurdles in terms of the steep advancement table drawn up for Crusader; nevertheless, this allotment crests him over the threshold for 5th level, which requires five dedicated days of training before he can raise his abilities. Updated party totals:

• Audric - 18,500
• Zeb - 3,000/14,325

Recovered Items

I'm assuming the passage of time sufficient for both characters to train (five days). During this period, castings of detect magic and read magic can be completed (note that these castings are still being made at Audric's and Zeb's "old" levels):

• The hook-bladed axe wielded by Carcerus emits a faint magical aura. This weapon deals damage as a bastard sword and can be used one- or two-handed.
• The wooden spoon carried by Maglarosh (but not the bowl) emits a faint magical aura. When placed inside the bowl, a pasty and unappetizing (but ultimately edible) gruel forms within.
• The ruby charm worn by Maglarosh upon a silver chain emits a moderate aura of abjuration magic.
• The necklace recovered from the troll's nest at Oldkeep is valuable, but non-magical. It may have once belonged to a noble or some person of importance. Erathmar appraises this piece at 500 gold pieces.
• The oakwood medallion bearing the symbol of Nobanion is non-magical.
• None of the other plundered wares present as magical.
• Same as previously, Audric's pewter ring radiates an overwhelming magical aura. Its school cannot be discerned.

The spellbook found in the basement of the tower in Carrock contains the following spells:

• 1st level
• Cantrip
• Detect magic
• Enlarge
• Identify
• Light
• Mount
• Read magic
• Spider climb
• Spook
• 2nd level
• Bind
• Deeppockets
• Detect invisibility
• Locate object
• Melf’s acid arrow
• Whispering wind
• 3rd level
• Delude
• Dispel magic
• Secret page
• Protection from normal missiles

Happenings in Carrock

The party's victorious return brings revelry and accolades. In the ensuing days, Larimo the gnome begins to recover from his injuries, Rould is appointed head-huntsman following the loss of Arkhen, and Tussugar Grim is named Carrock's official captain-at-arms, with all martial training and the entire defense of the village under his charge. Moreover, the dwarf agrees to make his permanent residence within the tower, taking ownership of the structure once commissioned by his longtime friend, Reginald the Stoutheart.

For Zeb's part, the requested pauldron and helm are fabricated by village craftsmen at no cost. Neither is coin accepted from Zeb or Audric for meals, ale, or accommodations for the remainder of their stay. They are truly looked upon as heroes.

When approached about the upcoming journey, Bonie is taken aback, and Larimo even more so, knowing little of the PCs at all. Like Tussugar, the gnome is slow to heal naturally, a generation (in gnome years) more aged than the others. Following her initial surprise, Bonie expresses a need to return to West Tower with news that the valley is once again safe for travel. She pledges to consider the offer, though much will depend on the health of Larimo.

Rould is grateful for the desire of his accompaniment but respectfully declines, hopeful that he might aid Tussugar in fortifying their new home. There is much work ahead in Carrock to prepare for the coming winter. Erathmar, however, is ready cut his losses and agrees to the proposal instantly, along with the rest of his company.

Selben's progress in magery is slow, but not fruitless. By Zeb's estimation, a month of additional study is required for Selben to learn read magic sufficiently to begin scribing a new spellbook from the existing tomes. Neither are the necessary materials available in Carrock; the resources of a larger settlement will be needed. (Such is the danger of losing one's spellbook.)

Moving Forward

I think that's all I have for Zeb and Audric right now. Feel free to post comments to advance things forward. If you choose to pass additional time in Carrock, let me know how much, and for what purpose. If you'd like to open dialogues with specific NPCs, you're free to do that as well. The time of year is early fall, several days before the autumn equinox.

Learning new spells from captured spellbooks

It's probably useful if I outline the procedure for learning new spells from other wizards' spellbooks. We've looked, previously, at the parameters around using scrolls, which are effectively a one-time-use means for supplementing a wizard's spell slots. Spellbook writings are permanent, though the rules for copying them are similar.

• In possession of an unfamiliar spellbook, a wizard must use read magic to decipher its contents. Read magic allows the wizard to read two pages per caster level; an individual spell consumes one page per level of the spell. (In the previous post I assumed that Riwyn was willing to expend the necessary number of castings, two, to read the full volume.)

• Once the spellbook's writings have been deciphered, the wizard can attempt to copy any number of its spells into his or her own spellbook, using his or her own personal notations. Each spell requires a successful Chance to Learn Spell roll, with failure indicating that the spell cannot be learned at the present time. A new roll can be attempted (assuming that the wizard still has access to the spell) upon attaining a new level.

• If the Chance to Learn Spell roll succeeds, the wizard must spend one full day of study per level of the spell copying the runes. (The degree of dedication required for this work typically can't be achieved while adventuring.)

Note that a wizard isn't able to memorize spells directly from a foreign spellbook, only from the wizard's own spellbook.

Feel free to post any questions or clarifications as comments.

Jhakine's spellbook

I did, in my previous post, wholly forget to make note of the Calishite wizard's plundered spellbook, which Riwyn is presumed to have in her possession and to have perused with a casting of read magic.

The volume is small, lightweight, and leather-bound, intended for use while traveling and ill-suited for large-scale research. A handful of weathered parchment sheets remain unmarked, though most of its pages are inscribed with the following spells:

• First level - detect magic, magic missile, read magic, sleep, shocking grasp
• Second level - blur, ESP

No additional XP award for obtaining this, though Lincoln is surely glad that it no longer resides in the hands of an enemy.