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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5103854" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 173: September 1991part 2/6Bazaar of the Bizarre: Back to the Forgotten Realms we warp, to get another collection of themed items from Elminster. This time it's a dozen staves. Fighters are already well catered for in weaponry and armour, but wizards have got rather less in the past, despite it usually being them that makes the items. Good point. Since he's usually pretty good with these, that has me quite optimistic. Rilantaver's Staff has three fairly low key but useful powers that'll make the wizard pretty popular with the whole party. Much better than a carelessly applied fireball wand backfiring on everyone. The Staff of Battle lets you send things flying and stun them, making your wizard a lot more combat capable. It can also absorb magic missiles, apropos of nothing. Someone obviously had to put up with lots of enemies bombarding the wizard as soon as they start casting. The Staff of Displacement has a whole range of mobility related tricks, and is another one that can protect other members of the party as well. Water, locked doors, chasms, all are no threat. Also pretty handy. The Staff of Divergence, on the other hand is a bit passive for my tastes, being essentially an immunity to a certain attack type, with the added bonus of redirecting it on your enemies. When a PC has a power like that, chances are they won't be meeting many enemies that use the specified attack type anymore. The Staff of Miracles lets you save lives and grants the occasional wish. All it's powers are rather charge intensive, which means you may well find yourself with some left, but not enough to power any actual abilities. Which does seem a bit wonky. The Staff of Night lets you see in the dark, extinguish magical lights, and apropos of nothing, summon an umber hulk. Yeah, I'm not sure the connection is there. Guess you can't always be subtle. The Staff of Scrivening lets you cheat the usual class restrictions on spells known, even letting you put priest spells in your spellbook if you can find an appropriate scroll. Now that's one that definitely has game-breaking potential. I'll bet Elminster has one of these in his collection. The Staff of Silence is another largely defensive and utility device, but can also unleash the sounds it's absorbed to unpleasant effect. Another one that's likely to exhaust it's charges quickly if not regularly maintained. The Staff of Spheres is one of Elminster's personal creations, a typically versatile utility device that allows you to transport all kinds of things conveniently. Offence, defence, and bad jokes are all well facilitated by this baby. See you in the fiction later then. The Staff of Surprises is another one with an unconnected grab bag of useful effects. Whether these will save your life will probably once again depend on your brainpower, since none are hugely powerful. The Staff of the Moonglow is another odd one, with a bunch of moon related powers such as concealment, greater attack bonus when exposed to moonlight, and being able to counter teleportation. I guess every wizard has their own pet peeves that they're determined to solve. The Staff of Vision is pretty self explanatory, on the other hand. Invisibility detection, seeing in the dark, curing blindness. No great complaints or amazement here. Magic mangling made easy: Nerf time! Greg Detwiler shows you how to reduce the influence magic has over your game, so that fighters and thieves can have a little more influence. A big chunk of this is devoted to going through the minutinae of the timing system. If properly enforced, spell casting times and weapon speeds make it a lot more likely that spells can be disrupted mid casting, with amusingly cruel results. Similarly, enforcing spell component tracking strictly (particularly when combined with encumbrance ) can substantially depower wizards. If you really want to be a bastard you can make the character allergic to one of their spell components. Ah, the joys of being supreme god of the universe. Another reminder that there really is no limit to your arsenal save your imagination, and AD&D's rules are simultaneously complex and flimsy enough that virtually everybody houserules them, and with a little effort, you can do whatever the hell you want to your players, and all they can do is complain or walk. One to use with caution, for creating balance by adding niggly restrictions is a textbook example of fun-sucking technique.</blockquote>

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