L^: i1	-	R#: 0	-	D^: 2r*
C^: v.s.m	-	CT: 1s	-	S^: None
A^: Special	-	-	-	-

Effect: This spell is the same as the 1st level MU spell read magic, except that it applies only to spells usable by and used by illusionists,
as well as to various other inscriptions written in illusionist-type script by illusionists.

<MC: A clear crystal or mineral prism.>

<make notes about Ruathlek>
<do Oracles, et al. have their own versions?>

OUT ON A LIMB

Spelling it out

Dear Editor:
In reading the new illusionist spells devised
by Mr. Gygax (issue #66), I came across the
spell Read Illusionist Magic. But on page 39 of
the Dungeon Masters Guide it states, “lllusionists
do not need the spell read magic or
anything like it in pursuit of their profession.”
Was this merely an oversight on the part of Mr.
Gygax, or is this a definite rule change?


Larry Smith
Montreal, Quebec, Canada


It’s not an oversight, Larry. Using what
Frank Mentzer likes to call the “latest published”
principle, the creation of the new spell
Read Illusionist Magic means that the statement
you cited from the DMG no longer applies.
When the participants in an AD&D™
campaign adopt the new official illusionist
spells, they should use Read Illusionist Magic
(for illusionists) the same way that the Read
Magic spell is used (for magic-users). When
you’re in doubt about how to interpret an
apparent contradiction that springs up in
“official” material, you can assume that the
“latest published” information takes precedence
over what was written earlier. If the
Players Handbook and the DMG, for instance,
appear to be in disagreement about a point,
go by what the DMG says, since it was published
after the Players Handbook. If official
material from the pages of DRAGON™ Magazine
(from issues published since the DMG
came out) seems to be in conflicf with any of
the hardbound rule books, you can assume
(unless we say otherwlse) that the magazine
material supersedes the book.

The only “oversight” involved in this instance
was committed by the person Mr.
Gygax likes to call the Kindly Editor, who
should have thought to point out this rule
change in a short note when the new spells
were published. 

— KM
(Dragon #69)