Two: Minor Supernatural Servants: The antagonist has moderately powerful supernatural creatures, such as a ghost or demon, to send against the player characters. Three: Cauldron of Storm Summoning: This 300-pound cauldron can summon storms with hurricane winds, rain/floods, and such. In a boat, the players will capsize. Four: Servant: The antagonist will have an incredibly powerful supernatural being (i.e. greater vampire, major demon) at his beck and call. He may send it to slay the players directly, or use its powers to defend himself. Five: Horde of Demons: The antagonist will unleash a large group of supernatural creatures on the players. Six: Hand of Ice: This four- foot-tall marble hand is enchanted to cause winter blizzards within fifty miles, no matter what the season. Snowfall of a foot per hour and temperatures of -40 degrees (including wind chill) kill quickly. Seven: Anvil of Earthquakes: This mighty anvil, if struck, will trigger an earthquake. Players who are targeted must try to avoid being swallowed by the earth. It can be struck three times per day. Eight: Crystal Ball: This allows the antagonist to view (visually only) the happenings in the players' group, and also the surrounding area up to a thousand miles. With it the antagonist can also communicate with his forces at a distance from the stronghold. Nine: Shroud of Fog: This device causes a thick blanket of dreadful fog to form everywhere within 20 miles. In addition to reducing visibility to a dozen feet, it also spooks all animals and beasts within the mist, making riding impossible. Ten: Scepter of Suggestion: This magical item will give the antagonist the power to implant a thought that the target accepts as his own, such as "I am your friend.", or "Friedreich is your true enemy."). This may sow the seeds of dissent within the party of players. Jack: Invincible Knight: The antagonist commands an invincible mystic knight. This knight will be a skilled warrior who possesses magical strength and health in addition to an arsenal of enchanted weapons and armors. These knights are invulnerable to normal non-enchanted weapons and no mind control or illusionary magic affects them. For extremely powerful groups of players, more than one knight may be assigned. Queen: Staff of the Undead: The Staff of the Undead can be used to raise hundreds of zombies and skeletons under the command of the user. The undead are under total command for the duration of their existence, with no time limit. It may also be used to summon more powerful undead to service, albeit fewer of them. King: Rod of Command: This enchanted cold iron rod enables the user to lead troops in battle. All who follow him become fanatical about his cause. Followers would lay down their lives willingly rather than betray the bearer of the rod. Ace: Ring of Transformation: This ring enables the antagonist to change form once per day. It may disguise him/her as another person, or assume the shape of any creature within 100 lbs of the user's weight. Illuminating the Enemy Quick Rules for Beefing Up Your NPCs Introduction Clubs: Followers Diamonds: Locations Hearts: Tactics and Diplomacy Spades: Magic and Magical Items Back to Shadis #17 Table of Contents Back to Shadis List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master List of Magazines © Copyright 1995 by Alderac Entertainment Group This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com