ORCSES!

Mark Nelson Artist By Roger E. Moore Magical firearms in the AD&D® game? A Dungeon Master who cringes at the thought of a simple arquebus in the campaign will probably have a fit at the thought of putting a flintlock musket of sharpshooting +3 in a treasure pile. Nonetheless, there are several official AD&D campaigns in which firearms are found, and magical guns are a logical outgrowth there. This article, then, is for the daring DM who is willing to give the concept a try. A good rule of thumb for allowing magical firearms into a campaign is to find a comparable magical wand or device that can be used by any class of character, such as a wand of magic missiles, and determining which is more powerful, the wand or the gun. If magic is to be the most powerful element in the campaign, keep magical firearms at a low level of power. Firearms are described in many places in the AD&D rules. For the purposes of this article, all game information on firearms is taken from the AD...

Loyal followers are the most valuable “possessions” these villains can have. Undoubtedly, a betrayal at some point in the past has cost our ancient villain a great deal. Certainly, magical items are helpful, but these can be found, stolen, bartered for, or made. Followers, on the other hand, must (in most cases) be courted, recruited, and trained. They represent a great investment in time and energy. They are allowed or encouraged to grow powerful in order to serve better, but they are watched carefully to see that they do not gain enough power to become a threat to their master. This is not to say that these villains are kind and benevolent to their minions. The methods that evil-aligned creatures use to obtain loyalty differ from the methods of good-aligned creatures, but they can still be effective. At the very bottom tier of the ancient character’s retinue are slaves and charmed victims. These are unwilling followers who probably revolt if given the opportunity and some hope of suc...

The warlord is a belligerent individual who sets his organization up along military lines. This villain’s activities focus on the assimilation or destruction of large areas of land and groups of people. He may wish to take over a particular land, race, or geographic area — or he may aim at nothing less than the entire world. If undead, this villain might try to regain the lands he ruled or controlled when alive. Since villains do not necessarily declare war or restrict their attacks to military targets, they are often thought of as brigands or pirates until they gain considerable power. Most warlords do not often enter combat personally. If a party were to infiltrate the army surrounding him, he would assume that it was through subterfuge or powerful magic rather than through military force. His scouts and wizards would have detected an army nearby, but maybe not a handful of spies. If a party does find its way to the warlord’s presence, he immediately attacks, regardless of the circum...