July 2021 – Bryan's Dungeons & Dragons Site

Q&A With Tim Kask

June 2013 This article was originally published in & Magazine, Issue 4 in February 2013. Recorded by Bryan Fazekas. Tim Kask, one of the people who helped create OD&D and AD&D, posts frequently to a Q&A forum on Dragonsfoot. Tim is kind enough to answer a lot of questions and has graciously permitted & Magazine to reprint […]

Undead Unlimited!

June 2013 This article was originally published in & Magazine, Issue 2 in August 2012. Written by Bryan Fazekas. Most adults have seen at least one of the plethora of zombie movies that have spawned like blowflies on a corpse since Night of the Living Dead premiered in 1968. In most of the movies the undead multiply […]

Level Draining Is Metagaming

June 2013 This article was originally published in & Magazine, Issue 2 in August 2012. Written by Bryan Fazekas. This is certainly an inflammatory title for an article. Next to alignment, level draining is possibly the most argued and divisive topic in Dungeons and Dragons. Many players express a horror of level draining that transcends character death […]

Shade of Trelhaem

This NPC was useful just once. He provided the party with important information and set the stage for a follow-on adventure. That “prophesy” thing was FAR too much fun! I may revive this NPC for the current campaign. Yes, I borrowed the idea from one of the Shannara books. Shade of Trelhaem Frequency: unique No. […]

Kersichay, The Black Wizard

Kersichay appeared in two of my campaigns, initially in the original Rendelshod campaign as a sage the party consulted a few times. In a later campaign I taught my players how much a mistake it is treat a current character as having the knowledge of other characters from a previous campaign. In this case a […]

Ryflorin, Demon Prince

I invented this one with a need in mind … but he got put on a back burner. I think I was planning a story line involving competing demon lords but can’t remember where I planned to go with it. In any case, it went nowhere. Ryflorin Demon Prince Frequency: unique No. App.: 1 AC: […]

Reaper

I invented the Reaper after reading the Elfstones of Shannara. It’s an interesting idea but I’ve never had a group get strong enough to go up against it. Eventually … Reaper Singular Demon Frequency: unique No. App.: 1 AC: -10 Move: 90′ Hit Dice: 35 (221 hp) % in Lair: nil Treasure Type: nil No. […]

Is’Sel, Demon Princess

Is’Sel has appeared in name in my campaigns — she’s cropped up as Jxtl’s sometimes consort, and dangerous in her own right. I’ve never come up with a good story line that involves her but may do something with demon worshippers that follow her. This, of course, means I’ll need to make up a more […]

Jxtl, Demon Prince

Jxtl was the chief demon in charge — while he didn’t rule the entire Abyss, he was strong enough to control some of the most powerful planes. His allies were among the most powerful demon lords, although alliances among demons are not exactly long lasting! I killed him off once, but decided he was only […]

Gilmedya

Gill was just plain fun! She bailed the original campaign party out of a tough situation, in the process she slaughtered a pair of seladaemon, creatures tough enough to give a 10th level party a sense of mortality. THAT convinced the party that they didn’t want to mess with her. It took a fair amount […]