Some of my ideas and concepts about AD&D are simply too brief to merit a fullblown write-up, but sometimes brevity is highly efficient. Hence, I decided to keep a form of journal of miscellaneous thoughts - these will generally be only a few paragraphs long, if even that, but you might find something of interest hidden within. Look for this section to expand quite drastically over time.

An old article found in DRAGON, this document details how to increase the deadliness of the mundane animals of your fantasy world. All too often, DMs rely on throwing hordes of fantastical beasts at the PCs to keep them on their toes. However, even the most boring of the non-fantasy animals (such as common herd animals) can be lethal when ran correctly. Enjoy the look on your player's faces when they face a buffalo stampede!

I've always hated the dual-classing rules as presented in the PHB. For a start, I never liked the artificial nature of allowing demihumans to multi-class, while allowing humans the lesser option of dual-classing. Simply too forced, to out of whack with real life, to be usable. This article essentially turns dual-classing into a form of multi-classing, cimbining the two rules into a workable one. I think the "XP Shares" solution is so simple, how did anyone overlook it all these years?

I've included this writeup under both the House Rules and New Spells section, as it really does belong under both categories. They are obviously new spells, but the impact of these spells make them serious enough to have a campaign-altering nature. No one notices when yet another "it's a Fireball, but explodes into a burst of Negative Planar energy instead of fire" spell is introduced, but such spells as the Familiar Enhancer series will change the campaign environment.

I'm in favor of this House Rule, as it adds a much-needed vitality boost to the cannon fodder we call familiars. Under 2nd Ed rules, familiars are so weak, and given that their death can cause the death of the owner, there seems little reason a rational mage would choose to risk his life for a semi-useful pet. These spells make familiars a little more tough, or at least a little less likely to get into positions where toughness would be handy. While I'm not quite 100% satisfied with this familiar fix, it's the best alternative I've yet to find. Personally, the idea of the mage and familiar drawing off a communal HP pool seems like the right path, but I've yet to flesh the idea out.

This article originally appeared in DRAGON magazine. It discusses the campaign addition of weapons created out of the very essense of fundamental materials, such as fire, water, air, and earth, as well as more conceptual substances such as Fear and Time. These substances are literally bonded into the form of a weapon, hence the name. An interesting read.

Revised Saving Throws
Word 7, Zipped File

Every so often, I find a true gem of a houserule in my 'net wanderings - this files is one of those few. It suggests replacing AD&D's normal saving throws (Rod, Staff and Wands, Paralyzation or Poison, Spells, etc.) with four general categories: Dodge, Mind, Body, and Magic. Conceptually, this is a great leap forward, as it's very intuitive as to which saving throw category should be used for each incident. Ever stumble momentarily while thinking which standard category is appropriate when dealing with a wand of paralyzation? Stumble no more.

Another great article from DRAGON, this one details the usage of heraldry in a magical world. To encourage the roleplaying aspects of heraldry, the article grants magical benefits to carrying your standard. Roleplayers and munchkins alike will enjoy this writeup!

This article was written by Michael Brown and myself to fix the problems inherent with the new psionics rules as presented in Players Option: Skills & Powers. I wish I had the time necessary to keep up with the article - while already to v1.6, its still a work in progress. However, the actual body of the article is complete and usable, with any remaining work to be done with formatting, tidying up, etc. Infinitely better than S&P!

This article of mine presents an optional method of determining hit points, with one's Constitution score playing a much more critical role, removing the emphasis of a random die roll. Suggested for the more mature roleplaying crowd with a firm grasp on the type of character they wish to play.

There is much disagreement about the nature of thieving skills. Some claim that these skills are nothing more than NWPs and should be added to that list for all to have access. Others claim that the uniqueness (as well as the usefulness) of the rogue class would be ruined by such a move. Personally, I lean towards the former, and this article illustrates such. While not completed as of yet, I'm planning on adding a section to the article that explains why such a change is not only viable, but necessary. For the time being, tho, the article merely presents the game mechanics for making the change, not the rationale behind itself. Note that the article was written with using the S&P NWP system in mind, and would require some additional work to translate over to the core NWP system.

Before Players Option: Spells & Magic was released, a common debate existed as to whether or not an "All" school should exist for mages, as it does for priests. Most of the arguments against such a school seemed to boil down to nothing more than "that would go against the core rules, which are the one true word of AD&D". It never fails to amaze me how devoted some of my fellow gamers get towards the core rulebooks, as if these books were brought down from on high, carved into stone tablets. Back to the topic on-hand.... this article is my pre-Sp&M attempt at a Universal school for mages. Looking over it now, its obviously more closely related to a Metamagic school, which is exactly what I think a Universal school for mages should be. When I've some spare time, I'll rework this document and stress the Metamagic feel.