30 January 2010

Today’s Tabbloid
PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net

ROGUE FEED service of the Thrice-Great. There are similar claims that continued use
of a brazen head leads to religious mania, with the user forsaking all
Grognard’s Grimoire: Brazen other deities in favor of Turms.

Head True or not, there are many superstitions about brazen heads and the
JAN 29, 2010 03:10P.M. mere mention of them is enough to frighten some who fear and revile
Termax and his once-mighty cult.

ROGUE FEED

Take 2
JAN 29, 2010 12:30P.M.

Reader Richard Guy whipped up a couple of alternatives, based on

comments made in the other posts. What do people think of these?

Once the cult of Turms Termax became the de facto power behind —
and, eventually, on — the Thulian throne, its hierophants took on roles of
importance throughout the empire, acting as advisers to provincial
governors, military leaders, and even the clerics of the state-sanctioned
Great Church. Each of these hierophants brought with him a peculiar
magical device known to later generations as a brazen head. ROGUE FEED

As its name suggests, a brazen head is a brass representation of a man’s REVIEW: Supplement #1: The
head (that of Turms himself, according to some sources). However, the
head is enchanted and possesses two unique functions. Firstly, once Alchemist
every three days, its user may commune with Turms Termax (as per the JAN 29, 2010 12:01P.M.
5th-level cleric spell of the same name), with the god’s answers issuing
from the mouth of the head. Secondly, its user can, if the proper
command words are known, communicate by speech with the user of any
other brazen head within 5 miles of his current location.

Brazen heads were never produced in large numbers, but, over the
centuries, enough were crafted that they can still be found in Thulian
ruins everywhere. Likewise, many magic-users (not to mention groups
like the Argent Twilight) seek out brazen heads, using them as a means
to gain access to the secret wisdom of Turms. Others seek out the heads
to destroy them, believing them to be a tool by which the god of magic —
or his contemporary cult — seeks to spread his influence throughout the
world. Indeed, there are many who claim that brazen heads only
selectively tell the truth, so as to seduce their users into the unwitting

1
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net 30 January 2010

mountebank class, albeit without the implications of deceit and

quackery. Still, it wouldn’t be hard to play an alchemist in that vein,
which may explain why I was so taken with it. It’s definitely a “non-
magical magical class,” if you get my meaning, and, as such it might not
suit every type of campaign. In a more low-magic, pulp-inspired setting,
I can imagine an alchemist being a very useful addition to an
adventuring party. Even in a more “traditional” group, the class would
have its uses, with acids providing an alternative to lockpicking and
medicines to clerical healing, for example, although neither replaces the
more potent abilities of those other classes.

I like the alchemist and would certainly allow a player to take it up if he

wished to do so, but then alchemy and alchemical-inspired “magic” plays
an important role in my Dwimmermount campaign. In the end, I suspect
one’s reaction to this product will depend greatly on what one thinks
about alchemy and how it ought to be presented in a fantasy setting. The
Supplement #1: The Alchemist is a short (5-page, one of which is the Alchemist definitely takes a generally more “mundane” approach, with
cover and another the Open Game License) PDF product by Charles alchemy being similar to a more fantastical form of chemistry — a
Rice. It introduces a new character class for use with OSRIC, although it “science,” even if it’s sometimes less than exact. Again, that may not be
could quite profitably be used with almost any old school/retro-clone to everyone’s taste, thus limiting the utility of this product if you don’t
version of D&D. The PDF is clearly written and cleanly laid out. The share a similar perspective. If you do, it’s well worth its $1.00 price tag.
cover artwork by Joe Calkins is nice enough, better I think than that
included in previous Vigilance Press releases, but it doesn’t really suggest Presentation: 6 out of 10
an alchemist to me. Creativity: 8 out of 10
Utility: 7 out of 10
The alchemist class is not described as either a player of non-player
character class, leaving that up to the referee to decide for his own Get This If: You’d like expanded — but not complex — treatment of
campaign. That’s for the best in my opinion. In the old days, the term alchemy and want a class designed to take advantage of it.
“NPC class” was code for a new (probably overpowered) PC class. There Don’t Get This If: You’re happy with the existing approach to alchemy
was an unspoken assumption that only TSR could create new PC classes and don’t see the need for an alchemist class.
and so there was this kabuki dance in the pages of Dragon when it came
to clever new sub-classes, which everyone involved knew would be used
for PCs, even if no one would admit this outright.
ROGUE FEED
The alchemist is one such clever new class, one that both represents a
genuine literary archetype and employs a different mechanical model How About This?
than any of the existing classes. Unlike, say, the magic-user, the JAN 29, 2010 07:30A.M.
alchemist has no inherent magical abilities, relying instead on various
formulae he can make (often at significant cost), such as acids, poisons,
and medicines, in addition to the ability to create potions. The
effectiveness and extent of these formulae increases with level: low-level
alchemists are both limited in their abilities and prone to
Is this better?
unpredictability and error, while high-level members of the class are
much more powerful. At 20th level, alchemists has mastered the ability
of transmutation and, depending on the referee, may attempt a
potentially wide variety of changes between materials and states. I’ll
quibble that this ability is earned at too high a level for an AD&D-style
character class, even as I appreciate its openness to individual
interpretation by the referee. Regardless, the rules for alchemy are
simple without being simplistic and offer a lot of options without being
overwhelming.

Interestingly, the alchemist uses the thief combat and saving throw
tables, in addition to the thief’s Hit Dice and armor selection (weapons
are more limited). This called to mind Gary Gygax’s proposed