Not every magic item is a +1 Longsword or magic scroll. Here's a handful of magic items designed to be useful to low-level adventurers in particular without significantly disrupting the game. None of these items have been priced out for two simple reasons:

1. Pricing magic items is a pain in the ass
2. Serves no useful purpose

If your opinions differ, please feel free to calculate the prices yourself! :)

Pill Bottles

As the saying goes; "If you want to find an easy way, ask a Gnome". The race is intelligent, inquisitive and inventive to a soul, so it's no surprise that it took a Gnome Cleric to create a more portable and sturdy solution to the traditional Potion. Through repeated refining and distilling, the Gnome Cleric (whose name is long lost to history) created the first Pills. These are essentially Potions in tablet form designed to be taken with water in order to activate the magic contained within. The most commonly found items are Tablets of Cure Light Wounds contained inside a bottle holding up to 50 pills. Other tablets exist that Remove Fear, Remove Disease, Remove Curse and Remove Blindness/Deafness; these duplicate the spell effects and must all be taken with water to be activated. This is a standard action that may provoke an attack of opportunity.

Pills are created using the Create Pill Bottle feat:

CREATE PILL BOTTLE (ITEM CREATION)

Prerequisite Caster level 5th.
Benefit You can create a bottle of pills of any 4th-level or lower divine spell that you know. Creating pills takes one day for each 1,000 gp in its base price. The base price of a pill bottle is its caster level x the spell level x 750 gp. To craft a pill bottle, you must spend 1/25 of this base price in XP and use up raw materials costing one-half of this base price. A newly created bottle has 50 pills.
Any pill bottle that stores a spell with a costly material component or an XP cost also carries a commensurate cost. In addition to the cost derived from the base price, you must expend fifty copies of the material component or pay fifty times the XP cost.

In respect to item creation, Create Pill Bottle operates in much the same way as the Craft Wand feat in that the pill bottle itself is essentially a charged magic item. The individual pills though operate in the same way as potions; they can be used by anyone regardless of class and require a standard action to activate. Pills are usually only dispensed by a Cleric or knowledgeable Adept.

Everfull items

Many magic items are designed just to be convenient. Everfull items were created with this in mind, and provide a steady supply of consumables to the user. Especially when times are hard or supplies are limited, these items can be more of a life-saver than a +5 Longsword. Despite the name, it is possible to empty some Everfull items; they replenish at a fixed rate and if they are used heavily won't renew until the next morning.

Examples of known Everfull items include:

Everfull waterskin

If the far distant Desert of Eternal Night, wars have been fought over these seemingly trivial items. These black leather waterskins are embossed with a single Draconic rune for Water. Up to three times per day the waterskin will fill with ordinary water, providing enough liquid sustenance for three men or a single horse. This water tastes much like clear rain water.

Everfull quiver

These plain green quivers were crafted for Elven Scouts who would be expected to have little time to make their own arrows while on the move. When worn by anyone of Elven blood (including half-Elves) or wearing an Elf-Friend Ring (see below), they instantly fill with 20 ordinary arrows. These are replenished to a maximum total of 60 each day. The quiver can be used to hold other arrows as well, to a maximum of 20. For example, an Everfull Quiver could hold 5 +1 arrows and would create 15 ordinary arrows. The +1 arrows would be replaced with ordinary arrows when used.

Everfull backpack

Originally created for the famed Gnome Adventurer and Con Artist Nymbul Spearhammer, this backpack appears to be filled to bursting despite weighing only 2lds, the same as an empty pack. When opened, it contains all manner of non-magical trinkets, items and (let's face it) junk. The contents change with every opening. There is a 35% chance that anything from the Equipment list that is inorganic, would fit in a backpack and costing 5gp or less can be found by rummaging inside for one round. These items disappear after one hour. This item cannot be used as an ordinary backpack.

Rings of Alliance

These simple faintly magical Rings mark the wearer at being allied to a particular race, cause or alignment. Originally a Human idea to mark a wearer's alliance to a Guild, these Rings are now common among many races. These Rings provide a +2 to Reaction Rolls and Gather Information checks to allies, and a -2 check to foes if they spot the Ring. Additionally, all effects that apply to only members of that Race or Alignment also apply to the wearer of the Ring as if they were a member. For example, an Elf-Friend Ring wielder is susceptible to the effects of an Elfbane arrow.

All of these Rings break when the wearer dies or it is removed by force; they are never found as treasure, but given to the worthy.

Known examples include:

Elf-Friend Ring

This silver Ring is shaped like entwined ivy, and glows faintly under moonlight. They are commonly given to trusted Human Rangers to grant them free passage through the forests and Elven enclaves.

Ring of the Dwarven Hills

An unadorned hexagonal Ring of stone, this item is only rarely given to truly worthy non-Dwarves. One is known to be in the possession of a Hobgoblin warlord who so respected the valour of his Dwarven foes that he turned sides mid-battle and helped turn the tide in their favour.

Patron of the Silver Horde

Despite the name, this is a plain iron band inset with garnets around the edge. It is given to all members of the Silver Horde, a secretive organisation of relic hunters. Their leader is a shape-changed Ancient Silver Dragon, and the bearers of the Ring are affected by anything that might affect Silver Dragons, including Dragonbane weapons.

Orcmark

An Orcmark is a crude ring of rusty wire with barbs set along the edge causing minor lacerations to the wearer's fingers. They are given to Human spies and other such traitors to show their alliance to the Orcish cause. The wearer is considered to be Orc-blooded.

Scabbard of Repair

This plain leather longsword scabbard is adorned with the Dwarven runes for Forge and Hammer. When a longsword is inserted for at least 8 hours any damage is repaired leaving the blade as good as new, even if the blade was totally sundered; all pieces must be inserted into the scabbard for the repair to take. Enchanted blades with up to a +2 (or equivalent bonus) can be repaired using this scabbard but the repairs take an additional 24 hours per bonus. A sundered +2 Longsword will take a total of 2 days 8 hours to be repaired and the blade must not be unsheathed in this time for the repair to take.

Additionally, if an ordinary Longsword is kept in the Scabbard of Repair for at least a week (even with regular daily use), the blade will gain Masterwork quality and show signs of Dwarven craftsmanship in it's design. This benefit remains so long as the Scabbard is used with the Longsword, and fades within 8 hours if the Scabbard is no longer used.

Let's face it; you always know where you are with a demon. They are the very essence of what is meant by Chaotic Evil, and are a blight on the land by anyone's definition. Not even the most strident Paladin will think twice before slaying such foul creatures with no offer of mercy or quarter. The presence of these creatures make for an exciting, unambiguous campaign where there's no doubt about exactly who the Bad Guys Are; they are great to use as solitary assassins to powerful generals and their attendant masses hordes, and everything in between.

This is Part One of the Chariots & Champions mini-game, a high-octane fantasy game of vehicular combat on the roads and arenas of the Fallen Empire. Further chapters will appear over the coming weeks and detail character generation, vehicle creation and combat, a bestiary and more. Game rules will be provided for both 3.5 Edition D&D and Mutants and Masterminds. Enjoy!

Let's talk themes. It could be argued that the difference between a good campaign and a great one is whether there's an over-arching theme running in the background. That's the difference, after all, between Twelve Guys Go Trekking Across Middle Earth and The Lord of the Rings. One is a pleasant wilderness ramble, while the other is an Epic tale that's captured the hearts and minds of three generations.

The word theme means many things to many people. In some ways, it's synonymous with plot, or even genre, though it goes deeper than both. Going back to The Lord of the Rings, the theme isn't merely "a quest to destroy a powerful Ring". Multiple themes carry the story, including "good versus evil", "high fantasy", "honour, bravery and duty" and "unrequited love" in the case of Aragorn and Eowyn. There's a blend of large-scale themes and personal themes which all bind to make the story complete.

The same could be said for your role-playing. Set themes for your campaign and let them develop from session to session, and encourage your players to do the same for their characters. A game with the themes of "rollicking Indiana Jones-style adventure" will feel very different to one with "dark skulduggery" - though one with both themes would set a great tone for the game!

This month, Save Or Die presents several themes for your enjoyment. Chariots and Champions is a complete mini-game featuring high-octane battles between the races on the roads of the Fallen Empire. In Orcs in them thar hills we look at how to adapt Wild West tropes into your fantasy game and include Stormwater a complete Wild West Fantasy town, population 115. If you want a darker theme to your games, we also list and suggest uses for Low-level Demons for low-level campaigns. We round out the issue with Pill Bottles, Containers, Rings and Things, an assortment of unusual and useful low- and semi-magical items.

Starting this issue, the content will appear on-site piecemeal with the first article presenting an overview of the Fallen Empire for Chariots and Champions. When all of the articles are available on-line, we'll release the complete PDF for download.

Oh, and don't forget to toss a dollar or two in the tip jar if you like what you see! :)

Till next time!

I'm excited about Save Or Die issue 6. Very excited, in fact. It's going to be just a little different to previous editions, and mark a slight change in the presentation of each release from hereon. I'll explain.

The first, and biggest change is that it's going to have a mini-game! Oh yes. As with the Polyhedron/Dungeon magazine tie-ins of old, Save Or Die is going to feature a mini-game, at least once each alternate issue. These issue will be around the same pagecount as the others (perhaps a little higher) but feature a complete, ready to run campaign and set of rules. You'll need a copy of D&D, d20 Modern or Mutants & Masterminds (depending on the genre) to play, but that's all.

Issue 6 is going to start the ball rolling with Chariots & Champions, a high octane game of battling road warriors and vehicular arena combat, fantasy style. Expect Orcish biker gangs riding Air Sharks, gothic vampire Drow rock chics in demonbound roadsters, kobolds in giant turtleshell tanks and more. The mini-game will come complete with vehicle construction rules, guidelines for GMless play and a handful of arena and road scenarios.

But that's not all; Issue 6 will also have articles with the following tantalizing titles, all unrelated (but usable in) Chariots & Champions:

* Orcs in them thar hills
* Pill Bottles, Containers, Rings and Things
* Low-level Demons for low-level campaigns

That's three extra articles, over and above the mini-game itself. Cool, or what?

The release date is "sometime in February", but watch out for more sneak peeks over the coming days.

Till next time!

Click on the cover to download the .pdf or click on the title to read online

Five Rogues (one of which is also a Paladin, another of which is also a Barbarian), a Wizard, a Monk, and a Vampire Duck.

That's what you will find in just two of the articles this month, one of which takes you back to basics with how to build a Rogue. We look at what makes a Rogue, the options available and how best to make the most of your Skills and Feats. This isn't about power-gaming optimization either, but making sensible choices which can make your character effective and well-rounded both in combat, and out. All to the benefit of the party, of course!

Ok. Maybe I lied about the optimization. Look out for Power Play Tips along the way, but don't tell your GM I told you them.

We're also reviewing 4th Edition (no, really), taking a close look at what makes Elves tick, the Binder base class and think about how One Shot adventures can fit into your game.

Now, I need to go lie down.

Just watch out for the Duck.

Till next time!

Merry Christmas!

Click on the image to download the .pdf version or click on the title to read online.

Once upon a time there was a man who woke up one morning, excited it was his birthday the following day. He spent several hours on the telephone to his friends talking about his plans - and completely missed the news report about the UFO sighted in his town. Later that day he went shopping to buy a new set of clothes for his birthday party, so he missed the visit from the lottery board with a million dollar check. That evening he tucked himself into bed all bright and early, so excited that another boring day was over, and tomorrow - TOMORROW WAS HIS BIRTHDAY!

The role-playing community is just like that guy, right now. We're focusing so much on the upcoming 4th Edition of D&D that we are ignoring what we have now. Debate and speculation is great, in moderation, but let's not lose sight of the cracking version of D&D we have today. Enjoy that first and foremost, and approach 4th Edition with an open mind when it's actually here. Otherwise, you're risking being burned out and feel 4th Edition is an anti-climax when it finally does arrive in the middle of next year - no matter how good it is.

I guess the moral (such as there need to be one) is this: It's better to make the most of what you have now than to dream of the future.

With that in mind, the final article in this month's edition of Save Or Die takes a look at D&D's Sacred Cattle - some of which I hope to see blasted out of the water in 4th Edition. And that's all I have to say about the matter! From hereon, Save Or Die is going to be a 4th Edition free zone until it's finally released. I promise.

This issue starts with a closer look at Traps - why I love them, and how they could be put to good use in your game. That ties in neatly with Roombuilding 101 in which we look at how to put together a well designed Dungeon Room. It's like world-building on a much, much smaller scale.

We also ask the all important question: What does a Fighter do when combat ends? If you have a sword monkey in your team, or play one yourself, I hope you find food for thought. Just to break the intense D&D focus, we look at how to make a character for Mutants & Masterminds.

Last, but far from least, we present 101 Uses For a Dead Goblin. Well, give or take a few :)

Till next time!

greywulf

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Cover image: "First the torches blew out. Then they came at us, a thousand screaming Goblins.............."

All contents released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License. All game material released under the OGL. See wizards.com for details.

Click on the image to download the .pdf version, or click on the title to read online.

Wherever you go you will find them, hiding in darkened shadows, chattering in something that almost, almost sounds like language, their tiny limbs wiggling at you while their dark eyes stare out, unused to the sunlight.

I am, of course, talking about role-players.

We're a strange breed, aren't we? We play the most social game there is (Go on. Name any other game that's more social than spending 4 hours around a table laughing with friends) yet are viewed on the whole as anti-social, insular and generally geeky.

That's cool in a way, but also not entirely true.

In my time I've known and gamed with folks from all walks of life, from managers to Goths to managers who are Goths to policemen, footballers, campaign fundraisers, journalists, students, teachers and more. Whatever their walk of life, there's been than one common spark, that fire of imagination that marks them out.

For they are role-players, and I'm proud to have known them all. This one's for you, guys.

This issue begins with another breed entirely. Rats, and lots of them. I present four ratlike critters that will send your PCs running from the shadows. If you use any of these beasties in your game, I'd love to hear about it.

Next comes an insight into my mind with a look at what I consider to be my Bookshelf Essentials. These are the tomes which get more table time than shelf time when I'm planning or playing the game. Here's why.

In A Thousand Gleaming Spears we look at the options if you want to run a battle against thousands, then it's time to meet the Badgers where I give you the Brocka, a burrowing race for your game. In Occam's Role-player you're encouraged to take a razor to your Core Books, though not literally.

Finally, I leave you with my Problem Monster Numero Uno. Which one is yours?

Till next time!

greywulf

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Cover image: Regis, a PL 6 character in a low-power Heroes-based Mutants & Masterminds one-shot game from a few weeks ago. We love the setting, and plan to make a revisit in the near future!

All contents released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License. All game material released under the OGL. See wizards.com for details.

It's been a busy few weeks over here at Greywulf Towers. Somehow though, the creative juices have managed to keep on flowing. Save Or Die Issue 3 is complete and ready for release in November, and Issue 4 (slated for a 1st December release) is 85% complete too. That's a lot of words. In fact, each issue is larger than the last, with Issue 4 containing well over 32 pages of role-playing goodness.

But first, let's take a sneak peek of what to expect from Issue 3. Here's cover and table of contents:


Introduction
A closer look at.....Rats
Bookshelf Essentials
A thousand gleaming spears
Meet the Badgers
Occam's Role-player
Problem Monster Number Uno


The first article kicks off with a look at the most under-rated and ignored critters in the game - Rats! We look at rat tactics, the ratlike creatures available in the SRD and Monster Manual, and present a grab bag of new rat critters for your game. Here's the flavour text for each one:

Riding Rat
"I swear, it was as big as your dog this rat, and on it's back were this other rat sat jus' like a soldier. There were a rein in it's 'and, and in t'other were this great big scythe, like Death hisself, only it were a rat. Mad Tom saw it too, and 'e just froze there. 'Course, I legged it 'n' here I am now.

Poor Tom. I'ze gonna miss 'him, I am."

Ratling
Sewer-workers tell tall tales of scuttling rat-like humanoid shapes that dash for the shadows at the merest noise. They swear that these creatures walk on two legs, hunched over as if their spines were forced to take this stance not by choice. Some of the more well-travelled workers tell of entire undercities of these creatures where giant vermin are harvested like cattle, half-starved humans are slaves and huge rats are ridden as mounts. All of these rumours are, of course, discounted as mere fancy by surface dwellers.

Yet still, children go missing.

Ethereal Rat Swarm
"Through the walls! They came though the walls!"

Amorphous Were-Rat
"Next time, we kill him dead. Ok? Not unconscious-and-drag-to-the-prison dead. Not buried underground dead. Not stuck in a burning temple dead. Not fall-off-a-cliff-into-the-sea dead. Not silver-sword-through-the-chest dead. I want to see his head separated from his body and his body coated in molten silver then locked in an airtight lead safe. Only then, I'll be happy to say once and for all that my brother, Gheldar Darkeyes, is no more. And even so, I won't be sure."

As an added bonus, Ratlings are fully stated out for player character use, so if you feel the need to play a rat-headed Rogue and don't have a copy of the Creature Collection or Oriental Adventures, here's an OGL solution for you.

We follow that with a look at the five role-playing books (aside from the Core Rules) which get the most use in our games. While a few of the books have had a lot of coverage in the role-playing community, some of tham as lesser-known, and come highly recommended.

In A Thousand Gleaming Spears we take an in-depth look at different ways to run larger-scale combats in D&D. It's well known that 3.5 Edition just doesn't scale well if the number of critters on the table exceeds 15 or 20, but with a little forethought and planning, it's possible to run dynamic, exciting battles all the way up to epic wars with thousands of combatants. We look at the options and techniques which will help your game.

Next up we Meet the Badgers, presenting a humanoid race that's able to Burrow, then it's on to Occam's Role-player in which we take a razor to your Core Rules. Not literally, of course!

To round things off, Issue 3 looks at what I consider to be Problem Monster Number Uno in D&D. You might be surprised.

I'll leave you with a sneak peek of the cover to Issue 4, and a look at the table of contents.


Introduction
A Closer Look at....Traps
101 Uses for a Dead Goblin
What does a Fighter do when combat ends?
Roombuilding 101
Mutants & Masterminds: How to Make a Hero
Sacred Cattle


Till next time!

One of the things I planned for Save Or Die is for each issue to be available both online and as a downloadable .pdf. The current option of being able to grab a rough-and-ready auto-generated .pdf of each article isn't a good solution at all, so that's going to go.

In it's place, each issue is going to be available as a complete .pdf when it's released online, complete with a fully rendered cover image created by yours truly.

In the meantime, click on the pics to download Save Or Die issues 1 and 2.

Incidentally, it’s just amazing how many spelling errors crept into the articles online. I swear they weren’t there while I wrote them! All of the errors are fixed in the .pdf versions, and I’ll go through and correct the online articles over the next few days. Sheesh.