HEXRENDER
Effect: Dispel Magic 25d6; Force Field (30 PD/30 ED/15 Mental Defense/15 Power Defense/10 Sight Group Flash Defense);
Teleportation 30”; RKA 4d6, +2 Increased STUN Multiplier; RKA 4d6
Target: One character/Self/Self/One character/
Explosion
Duration: Instant/Constant/Instant/Instant/Instant Range: 655”/Self/Self/600”/600”
END Cost: 0
Defense: Unbreakable
Description: This distinctive staff appears to be con-structed from intertwined vines of velandi, iron-wood, platinum, oak, and gold — an astounding accomplishment in and of itself, until one discov-ers that Hexrender was created to be the pdiscov-ersonal weapon of the legendary First Epoch wizard Run-cifer! Considered by many to be the greatest wizard who ever lived, Runcifer created many spells and enchanted items. His personal staff contains five potent magics: it can dispel practically any magical effect, protects its wielder from nearly any attack, teleports him effortlessly about in battle, unleashes deadly lightning bolts, and hurls exploding magical fireballs of particularly epic (and dangerous) power.
Although Hexrender is not powerful as some other artifact-level enchanted staffs in some respects, it’s specifically tailored to the needs of a wandering battlemage and reflects Runcifer’s oft-stated belief that a spellcaster shouldn’t tie up too much of his power in “fun trinkets.” Like the great wizard himself, the fate of Hexrender is something of a mystery. It’s turned up in Arduna several times in the last few hundred years — most recently in northern Mhorecia, where an adventuring party that attempted to slay the dragon Skarm included a wizard using a staff that matches Hexrender’s description. Since the adventurers haven’t been seen since, it’s reasonable to assume that Hexrender currently resides at the bottom of a dragon’s horde in the Skyclaw Mountains.
Game Information:
Cost Power
37 Hexrender: Multipower, 150-point reserve;
all slots OAF (-1), Independent (-2)
3u 1) Spellrending: Dispel Magic 25d6, any magi-cal power one at a time (+¼), Reduced Endur-ance (0 END; +½); OAF (-1), Independent (-2) 4u 2) Arcane Shield: Force Field (30 PD/30 ED/15
Mental Defense/15 Power Defense/10 Sight Group Flash Defense), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); OAF (-1), Independent (-2) 3u 3) Magepath: Teleportation 30”, x2
Increased Mass, Position Shift, Safe Blind Teleport (+¼), Reduced Endurance (0 END;
+½); OAF (-1), Independent (-2)
3u 4) Arcane Lightning: RKA 4d6, +2 Increased STUN Multiplier (+½), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); OAF (-1), Independent (-2)
3u 5) Fire Sphere: RKA 4d6, Explosion (+½), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); OAF (-1), Independent (-2)
Total cost: 53 points
HIGH STAFFS OF WIZARDRY Effect: HA +6d6; Aid (Appropriate Arcana) 8d6;
+4 with that Arcana’s Skills; various unique powers
Target: One character/Self/Self/varies Duration: Instant/Instant/Self/varies Range: Touch/Self/Self/varies END Cost: 0
Defense: Unbreakable
Description: Somewhere in Ambrethel, wielded by men for good or ill, there exist 12 powerful staffs
— one for each of the respected major arcana of magic. Each High Staff was crafted from a different material during the First Epoch, probably by the famed enchanter Correg.
For the most part the High Staffs are similar, though each is made of a different material and possesses one or more unique powers in addition to the standard powers (see below). Each of them can augment the spells of its arcana and the mys-tical skills of its wielder, and serve as a powerful weapon. Beyond its raw power, a High Staff also boosts is owner’s prestige and profile within the Mystic World... and in some cases, makes him a target for rivals and thieves.
Game Information:
Cost Power
9 Staff Strike: HA +6d6 (30 Active Points);
OAF (-1), Independent (-2), Hand-To-Hand Attack (-½) (total cost: 7 points) plus +2 OCV with HA (10 Active Points); OAF (-1), Independent (-2) (total cost: 2 points) 27 Arcane Augmentation: Aid (Appropriate
Arcana) 8d6, any one spell of defined Arcana at a time (+¼), Delayed Return Rate (points fade at the rate of 5 per Minute; +¼) (100 Active Points); OAF (-1), Independent (-2), Self Only (-½)
5 Mystic Skill: +4 with all Power Skills and Knowledge Skills related to the staff’s arcana (20 Active Points); OAF (-1), Independent (-2) Total cost: 41 points plus points for unique ability(ies)
High Alchemist’s Staff (plain ashwood): The wielder of this High Staff can carry more Alchemy potions and creations at once than he could ordinarily. (+20 INT (20 Active Points); OAF (-1), Independent (-2), Only To Determine Number Of Available Potions (-1) (total cost: 4 points).) Total cost of High Staff: 45 points.
High Conjurer’s Staff (ornately engraved hazel): The wielder of this High Staff can cast To My Hand once per day. (Teleportation 10”, Ranged (+½), MegaScale (1” = 100 km; +¾), Usable As Attack (+1), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½) (75 Active Points); OAF (-1), Independent (-2), Only Works On Hand-Held Objects (-½), 1 Charge (-2) (total cost: 11 points) plus one Floating Fixed “Location”
(5 Active Points); OAF (-1), Independent (-2) (total cost: 1 point) (total cost: 12 points).) Total cost of High Staff: 53 points.
High Diviner’s Staff: (studded cherrywood): The wielder of this High Staff can cast Premonition once per day. (Danger Sense (any danger, general area) (INT Roll +5) (40 Active Points); OAF (-1), Inde-pendent (-2), 1 Charge (-2) (total cost: 7 points).) Total cost of High Staff: 48 points.
High Aeromancer’s Staff (blued steel): The wielder of this High Staff can cast Wall of Cloud once per day. (Force Wall (6 PD/4 ED; 10” long and 4” tall), Opaque (Sight Group) (59 Active Points); OAF (-1), Independent (-2), 1 Continuing Charge lasting 1 Minute (-1) (total cost: 12 points).) Total cost of High Staff: 53 points.
High Geomancer’s Staff (petrified wood): The wielder of this High Staff can cast Hands Of Stone once per day. (Entangle 8d6, 5 DEF (65 Active Points); OAF (-1), Independent (-2), Only Affects Targets On The Ground (-¼), 1 Charge (-2) (total cost: 10 points)).
Total cost of High Staff: 51 points.
High Pyromancer’s Staff (darkly stained ironwood):
The wielder of this High Staff can cast a powerful Firestorm spell around himself once per day. (RKA 2d6, Area Of Effect (14” Radius; +1¼), Armor Piercing (+½), Continuous (+1), Personal Immu-nity (+¼) (120 Active Points); OAF (-1), Inde-pendent (-2), 1 Continuing Charge lasting 1 Turn (-1¼) (total cost: 23 points).) Total cost of High Staff: 64 points.
High Aquamancer’s Staff (carved meerschaum): The wielder of this High Staff can cast Fist Of The Waters once per day. (Energy Blast 8d6, Indirect (+¾) (70 Active Points); OAF (-1), Independent (-2), Limited Range (50”; -¼), Requires Nearby Water (at least a barrelful within 50”; -1), 1 Charge (-2) (total cost: 10 points).) Total cost of High Staff: 51 points.
High Enchanter’s Staff (glowing oak-heart): This High Staff can Transform itself into Narvez’s Magnificent Mansion (and back) once per day. (Summon one 200-point Base, Slavishly Loyal (+1) (80 Active Points);
OAF (-1), Independent (-2), Lockout (can’t use any of High Staff’s other powers while Staff remains in Man-sion form; -½), 1 Charge (-2) (total cost: 12 points).) Total cost of High Staff: 53 points.
High Necromancer’s Staff (human bone): The wielder of this High Staff can cast Vampiric Touch once per day. (Transfer BODY and STUN 2d6, take two acteristics at once from target (+½), grant two Char-acteristics at once to caster (+½) (60 Active Points);
OAF (-1), Independent (-2), 1 Charge (-2) (total cost:
10 points).) Total cost of High Staff: 51 points.
High Sorcerer’s Staff (magically-strengthened glass): The wielder of this High Staff can cast The Spell of the Clear Mind once per day. (Aid INT and EGO 3d6, two Characteristics simulta-neously (+½), Delayed Return Rate (points fade at the rate of 5 per 5 minutes; +½) (60 Active Points); OAF (-1), Independent (-2), Self Only (-½), 1 Charge (-2) (total cost: 9 points).) Total cost of High Staff: 50 points.
High Thaumaturge’s Staff (shifts from one metal or wood to another every 1d6 Turns): The wielder of this High Staff can cast Thaumaturgic Harness once per day. (Transfer 2d6 (magical power to magical power), from any Magic power one at a time (+¼), to any Magic power one at a time (+¼), Ranged (+½) (60 Active Points); OAF 1), Independent (-2), 1 Charge (-2) (total cost: 10 points).) Total cost of High Staff: 51 points.
High Wizard’s Staff (carved dragon bone): The wielder of this High Staff can cast Mystic Bolt once per day. (RKA 2d6, Area Of Effect (24” Line; +1¼) (67 Active Points); OAF (-1), Independent (-2), 1 Charge (-2) (total cost: 11 points).) Total cost of High Staff: 52 points.
THE LICHSTAFF
Effect: Summon 2,000 Skeletons, Slavishly Loyal;
+60 PRE, Only Works Against Undead Creatures; RKA 6d6, NND, Does BODY Target: Special/One or more undead beings/One
character
Duration: Instant/Persistent/Instant Range: No Range/Self/No Range END Cost: 0
Defense: Unbreakable
Description: The origins of this terrifying enchanted item are obscure. The journals of the adventuring warlock Vorgath of Shaar, who lived in the 4300s, claim it was crafted by the First Epoch lich Ka’abra, who used it an an attempt to conquer the Westerlands that was foiled by the paladin Gal-ladan Burnshore, though Vorgath gives no source for this information. The diviner Justarian claims to have had dreams in which Vabanak himself created the staff. Druathek the Maleficent, who has sought the Lichstaff on several occasions, has said that he believes it to be the work of Gormghast Bonehand, an obscure but powerful lich who ruled part of the Sunless Realms during the early Second Epoch.
Only three things can be said for certain about the Lichstaff. First, despite arguments about its origin, descriptions of it generally agree. It appears to be made out of dark steel (though it weighs no more than a light wooden staff); some say the metal comes from melted-down coffin nails. Formed into the staff are numerous skulls, which over time slowly change expression as if undergoing some profound torment. The staff is shod with silver and capped with three symmetrical tines with a green-ish-purple eternal flame burning in the center of them. Second, the staff is immensely powerful, giving its wielder the ability to raise an entire army of the undead as well as various other necromantic powers. And third, because of its power it’s sought by dozens of spellcasters. Besides Druathek, other wizards known to covet it include S’aakiv the Red Necromancer, Varakes the Lich, and according to some rumors even Kal-Turak himself!
Game Information:
Cost Power
35 Army Of The Undead: Summon 2,000 Skel-etons built on 179 Character Points each, Slavishly Loyal (+1), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½) (227 Active Points); OAF (-1), Extra Time (1 Minute; -1½), Independent (-2), Must Have Body Or Bones (-1) 11 Aura Of Necromantic Power: +60 PRE (60
Active Points); OAF (-1), Independent (-2), Only Works Against Undead Creatures (-1), Spell (-½)
63 Death Touch: RKA 6d6, NND (defense is Hargenzarian’s Spell Of Lifeshielding; +1), Does BODY (+1), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½) (315 Active Points); OAF (-1), Independent (-2), No Range (-½), Spell (-½) Total cost: 109 points.
THE SCREAMING STAFF OF MADWYL Effect: Various powers
Target: Varies Duration: Varies Range: Varies END Cost: 0
Defense: Unbreakable
Description: This item looks like an ordinary wiz-ard’s staff that’s been badly warped and twisted by powerful arcane forces. On the very top is carved a strange head resembling something like a cross between a malevolent demon and a ribald jester.
The Staff’s powers are many and varied, and seem to involve some sort of Chaos magic or strange Thaumaturgy unlike no other in Ambrethel. The Staff’s name comes from its Screaming power, which causes it to emit an eerie, almost maddening keening when the user “awakens” it.
Oddest of all, no one knows who “Madwyl” is, though the name is associated with the Staff from its very first mention in the chronicles of wizardry.
Some scholars believe he is a reclusive, long-forgot-ten wizard, while others think him some sort of demon; a few believe the name isn’t that of a being at all, but a corruption of the term “mad will,” refer-ring to what’s required to control the Staff.
The Screaming Staff has existed since the earliest days; Runcifer, Sothuz, and Oldrusân Magisterios all described it in detail in their work-books, implying that they had the time and leisure to examine it at length. A wizard named Xaragon wielded it during the Drakine Wars, after which it became lost for a time. The thief T’allissa Darkveil claimed in her memoirs to have stolen it from the treasure-vault of a Basidrunian nobleman in 3212 SE. She supposedly sold it to a Khirkovy mage for a princely sum, but no other account verifies her words. The Staff surfaced again in 4355 SE, when the elven adventurer-mage Melcathrianorion car-ried it for several decades. It was lost when he and his companions failed to return from an expedi-tion into the Ulimar Jungle, and has not been heard of since.
Game Information:
Cost Power
37 The Screaming: Hearing Group Flash 15d6, Area Of Effect (12” Radius; +1), Continu-ous (+1), Personal Immunity (+¼), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½) (169 Active Points);
OAF (-1), Independent (-2), No Range (-½) 10 Fortune Favors The Madwyl: Luck 8d6 (40
Active Points); OAF (-1), Independent (-2) 7 Twisting Of The Mind: Mental Defense (30
points + EGO/5); OAF (-1), Independent 47 (-2)Madwyl’s Maladies: Multipower, 187-point
reserve; all OAF (-1), Independent (-2) 4u 1) Caprice Of Form: Major Transform 5d6
(anything to anything; heals back by being touched with the Staff while the wielder utters a specific nonsense rhyme), Improved Results Group (anything; +1), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½) (187 Active Points);
OAF (-1), Independent (-2), Limited Range (50”; -¼), 9 Charges (-¼)
4u 2) Madwyl’s Whisperings: Drain INT and EGO 8d6, two Characteristics simultaneously (+½), Limited Range (50”; +¼), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½) (180 Active Points);
OAF (-1), Independent (-2)
4u 3) Madwyl’s Dance: Entangle 7d6, 7 DEF, Based On Ego Combat Value (Mental Defense applies; +1), Takes No Damage From Physical Attacks (+¼), Works Against EGO, Not STR (+¼) (175 Active Points); OAF (-1), Independent 2), Cannot Form Barriers
(-¼), Mental Defense Adds To EGO (-½) Total cost: 113 points.
THE STAFF OF VASHTORI Effect: Summon VPP; Mind Control 12d6, Only
Versus Summoned Beings; Force Field (12 PD/12 ED/12 Mental Defense/12 Power Defense), Only Versus Summoned Beings Target: Varies
Duration: Instant/Instant/Constant Range: No Range/LOS/Self END Cost: Varies
Defense: Unbreakable
Description: The name of the wizard Vashtori instantly evokes thoughts of the arcana of Conjura-tion, to which he devoted so much of his life and work. As part of that work, he crafted this Staff, which carries powerful Conjuration magics.
First, the Staff has the power to Summon virtually any type of creature, being, or object.
In game terms, this is a Variable Power Pool that can only be used for powers built with Summon;
the user changes the VPP with his Conjuration Skill. Second, the staff can quickly and easily place a powerful Conjuror’s Chains spell upon any Summoned being (including ones not Sum-moned by the Staff). Third, it provides power-ful arcane protections against attacks made by Summoned beings (again, including those Sum-moned by means other than the Staff).
Made of ebony wood set with conjuror’s runes in red gold, and capped and shod with matching gold, the Staff passed to Wyndara Blaithelock upon Vashtori’s death at the hands of the Lord of the Graven Spear. She carried it for several centuries, but took it with her when she and her companions went to fight the dragon Methvegar in 3346 SE... a battle from which none of them ever returned. However, when the war-rior Ullshazzar and his adventuring companions slew Methvegar in his Skyclaw lair in 4156 SE, the Staff was nowhere to be found.
Game Information:
Cost Power
110 Powers Of Conjuration: Variable Power Pool, 100 base + 50 control cost; OAF (-1), Inde-pendent (-2), Only For Summon (-1) 23 Conjuror’s Chains: Mind Control 15d6
(Summoned Beings class of minds), Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼) (94 Active Points);
OAF (-1), Independent (-2)
14 Conjuror’s Shield: Force Field (12 PD/12 ED/12 Mental Defense/12 Power Defense), Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼) (60 Active Points); OAF (-1), Independent (-2), Only Works Against Limited Type Of Attack (the attacks and powers of Sum-moned beings; -¼)
Total cost: 147 points.
T
he sword is the most important weapon in most Fantasy Hero campaigns. It’s associ-ated in nearly every human military tradi-tion with prowess, honor, and nobility. The various cultures in the world of Ambrethel, both human and otherwise, are just the same. The sword is the preferred weapon of skilled warriors from the frozen wastes of Turakia to the jungles of Thûn...and the enchanted sword, doubly so.
Although the number of variations on the basic sword — a long metal blade with one or two edges for cutting, a point for thrusting, and a hilt for gripping
— is practically countless, for general purposes this type of weapon is organized into four categories:
■ The knife, also known as a dagger or by many other names, is a bladed weapon shorter than 26 cm. Knives are carried by nearly everyone in Ambrethel as every-day tools. As weapons, they’re popular with people who want to conceal the fact that they’re carrying a weapon (such as most rogues) and with the shorter races (Dwarves, Halflings, Goblins, and the like). See below for more information.
■ The short sword has a blade between 27 and 50 cm in length. Like knives, short swords are most popular with people who want easily-concealed weapons or blades suited to their short stature;
some races of Men, such as the Kumasians, also favor the short sword.
■ The longsword has a blade between 50 and 75 cm in length. It’s what most people envision when they hear the term “sword.” It can be broad or thin, curved or straight, single-edged or double-edged, highly decorated or plain and practical. Human, Elven, and Drakine warriors often favor the long-sword over all other weapons.
■ The greatsword has a blade longer than 75 cm and is meant to be wielded with two hands. It’s usu-ally straight-bladed and double-edged, though the lower third of the blade near the hilt (the ricasso) is often left dull so the wielder can hold it for addi-tional leverage. Larger, stronger races, such as some Men and Orcs, Trolls, and Giants often prefer the greatsword, which is both powerful and versatile.
Since swords are such popular weapons, it’s no surprise that they’re often enchanted. Since swordmaking is a learned craft all its own, an enchanter usually works with a swordsmith to craft a magical blade. Most swordsmiths capable of doing work of the quality required for an enchanted sword are Dwarves or Trolls, but some Men and Elves have the skill as well. Some magi-cal swords are so distinctive, or so powerful, that they’re given names of their own!
Most of the swords described below can easily be changed to other types of weapons if you prefer.
You may need to tweak the STR Minima or other Power Modifiers to suit.