ORCSES!

D&D Outsider Jared von Hindman With monsters in the air (and the release of the Monster Manual 3 on the shelves), we take a look at playing monstrous races… Spoiler Alert: It's hard to talk about evil or monstrous races without some reference to Salvatore (the Elder). As such, I might spoiling a subplot in one of the more recent books since it's just too apt to pass by. You were warned, Drizzt fan! Let's get something straight: Evil is cool. The bad guys, with the exception of maybe James Bond villains, usually have better outfits, cooler abilities, and even lairs. Just looking at what's available to a player these days, we have zombies (revenants), werewolves (shifters), minotaurs, vampires (the Vampiric Heritage feat that lets you play a “daywalker” vampire who does indeed suck blood), demons (tieflings), beastmen (gnolls) and golems (warforged) all readily available to the standard D&D player without any r...

A n Orc aspect of Hextor, from the Miniatures Handbook (2003). Art by Adrian Smith. Hextor is the Oeridian god of War, Discord, Massacres, Conflict, Fitness, and Tyranny. The symbol worn and used by the followers of Hextor is a black, spiked gauntlet holding six arrows. Description Hextor is often depicted as a hideous, gray skinned, six-armed humanoid bearing two large tusks jutting from its lower jaw wearing armor clad with skulls. He wields a weapon in each hand: a spiked flail, a battle axe, a battle pick, a longsword, a mace, and a falchion. His other form is that of an athletic young male, with dark hair and light skin. Relationships Hextor is the half-brother and sworn enemy of Heironeous, and the son of Stern Alia. Another brother, Stratis, is mentioned in literature for the Chainmail miniatures game in Dragon #285, but he is deceased. Hextor has a long-standing rivalry with Erythnul, from whom he took the portfolio of War. He also has longstanding enmities with ...

by Keith Baker Most gnolls are fierce and feral predators dedicated to the wanton destruction favored by Yeenoghu, their dread demon prince. But some gnolls reject their heritage and the demonic heritage that is their legacy to become adventurers. As shunned as other such renegades by most civilized lands, these gnoll heroes nevertheless pursue more noble causes and seek to push back the tide of darkness that constantly threatens to consume all in its path. See it now! (1 mb PDF) Gnoll legends trace the origin of their species to the demon prince Yeenoghu. Known as the Beast of Butchery and Ruler of Ruin, Yeenoghu sought to spread his hand through the mortal world by creating an army that would sow discord and terror across civilized lands. His demons numbered too few and could not remain in the mortal world indefinitely, but Yeenoghu took a few of his mightiest and most savage demons and fed them to a pack of mortal hyenas. The essence of the demons fused with th...

Roll vs. Role by Bruce R. Cordell and Chris Sims Roll vs. Role debuts in Dragon with the Bile Spider tribe. Goblins are some of the nastiest creatures around to begin with, but Ziguarz the hexer has brought his tribe new power and glory with his focus on the alchemical arts. Now he's discovered that components "harvested" from sentient creatures can potentially give him access to all sorts of new alchemical wonders, and he's set out to gather as many such resources as his tribe can purloin. Learn all the ins and outs of this goblins tribe, and drop them straight into your 4th Edition D&D campaign. See it now! (725 Kbs PDF) Goblins are wicked and grasping, and despite their stature, they lack some of the cowardice that other small humanoids display. Worse still, they’re cunning and inventive, as well as perversely resourceful. They know and use dark sorcery and cruel equipment. The expansion of civilization has driven them to ...

  By Robert J. Schwalb Keys to the Battlefield “Look friend, we ain’t got no fancy spells and there ain’t no gods lookin’ out fer the likes of you and me. We got these weapons, but we got something more too. We got each other. You get my back and I swear on my father’s beard I’ll get yours.” —Borst, dwarf warlord Martial characters might engage the enemy in wildly different ways. Some rely on shadows to skulk about and plant their daggers where least expected, and others fling themselves headlong into the enemies’ teeth. However, what unites them all is an uncommon understanding of battlefield tactics. Such characters don’t have grimoires dripping with complex arcane formulas or a god’s hand resting on their shoulder, but what they do have is grit, discipline, and cold, hard steel. No one knows this better than the warlord. Trained in a variety of fighting techniques tested on countless battlefields through history’s long march, warlords draw from their vast experience to find u...

   

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...