Hooves  and green hair
Two new breeds for the AD&D® game universe
by Bennet Marks

S a t y r s   a n d   d r y a d s   h a v e   a   p e c u l i a r   c o n n e c t i o n   i n   t h e   A D & D ®   g a m e   u n i v e r s e .
T h e y   a r e   b o t h   m e m b e r s   o f   o n e   s p e c i e s   i n
w h i c h   t h e   m a l e s   a n d   f e m a l e s   h a v e   w i d e l y
v a r y i n g   a b i l i t i e s   a n d   a t t i t u d e s ,   a n d   t h e
m a l e s   a n d   f e m a l e s   d o   n o t   m a k e   a   h a b i t   o f
d w e l l i n g   t o g e t h e r .   T h e   c h i l d   o f   a   s a t y r   f a t h e r   a n d   a   d r y a d   m o t h e r   i s   e i t h e r   a   s a t y r   o r
a dryad, depending on gender. Both dryads
a n d   s a t y r s   c a n   m a t e   w i t h   h u m a n s   a s   w e l l ,
a n d   t h e   c h i l d r e n   o f   s u c h   u n i o n s   p o s s e s s
d i s t i n c t i v e   c a p a b i l i t i e s   a n d   t a l e n t s .   H a l f s a t y r s   a n d   h a l f - d r y a d s   a r e   u s a b l e   a s   n o n p l a y e r   c h a r a c t e r s   i n   m a n y   A D &D   g a m e
s e t t i n g s .

A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s
For their contributions, the author would
like to thank the members of the Brimiston
Town Guard ? and, of course, Algernon,
the foremost half-satyr.



LETTERS
Roger's reasoning
Dear Roger Moore,
Seeing my article ("Hooves and green hair") in
the pages of DRAGON #109 was a great pleasure.
Thank you very much -- not only for your
decision to print it, but for your encouragement
and editorial advice along the way.

My players and I were curious about some
things that made it into the published version.
You may want to answer these questions in your
Letters column, because I suspect some other
readers might also be wondering.

(1) Ranger/thief has been added to the list of
multi-class options available to the half-satyr and
half-dryad. However, in Unearthed Arcana, page
7, it says that rangers must be of a good alignment,
and thieves must be of a non-good alignment.
This doesn?t seem to leave anything over
for the ranger/thief. I seem to remember a
comment somewhere that thieves may be
allowed to shift toward good alignment as they
ascend in level, but this is not mentioned in UA,
and anyway wouldn?t seem to help the hapless
half-breed ranger/thief, who must start off with
both professions simultaneously.

(2) In the discussion of armor permitted to
multi-class half-satyrs and half-dryads, the text
reads: ?Multi-classed characters may use the
armor and weaponry available to either of their
classes, so long as the armor does not interfere
with the performance of the abilities of their
classes. For example, a half-satyr fighter/magicuser
would wear no armor . . . .? Is this part of a
new rule that multi-class magic-users cannot
wear armor? Does it apply to elves and halfelves
as well? This would represent a major
change for such characters.

(3) I was a bit disappointed that you left out
magical chain mail as an option for these two
races. I had included it (along with elfin chain)
on the basis of the fact that it?s available to
bards, who, with their druidic training, are also
?nature-oriented? characters.

Bennet Marks
Palo Alto, Calif.
(Dragon #113)
 

1. A large number of gamers prefer to use the
earlier ruling, established in the Players Handbook
(page 27), that thieves may start the game
as neutral good. Granted, Unearthed Arcana has
changed this rule so that thieves may only be
non-good (Unearthed Arcana, page 7), but Kim
Mohan's "Arcana update, part 1" (DRAGON®
Magazine issue #103, page 12) modified this
ruling to mean that, though they must start as
non-good, thieves may become good later in
their careers. This article even noted that assassins
could change alignment to neutral or even
good status, given time. Furthermore, David
Cook noted in Oriental Adventures (page 26)
that a yakuza, an urban underworld character
class, may be of the lawful good alignment
(presumably starting the game this way). Being
good, then, is no problem.

Given the explosion of new class combinations
possible for AD&D characters with the Unearthed
Arcana and "Arcana update" rules
(particularly the surprising neutral good ranger/druid
combination for certain elves, elaborated
upon by Frank Mentzer in DRAGON issue #100,
page 9), a ranger-thief is not unthinkable. It
even sounds workable and reasonable.

Consider a ranger-thief's abilities and outlook.
Here is a powerful scout, one equipped to
infiltrate enemy positions, commit sabotage and
theft, and rescue kidnapped victims of humanoid
armies. He or she is the best alternative to
using an assassin when one needs a spy. The
ranger-thief is an espionage agent and commando
warrior with ties to both wilderness and
urban areas. If he or she does not belong to a
thieves guild, then the necessary training is
gamed through a military or paramilitary force
controlled or aided by rangers.

Why did I place it in your article? This is
harder to answer. I fear that on occasions I may
tinker with certain articles, adding new material
that seems appropriate to the nature of the
topic and, in my feeling, that makes the articles
more complete and enhances their usefulness.
For example, I added half-(aquatic) elves to the
mariner NPC class (DRAGON issue #107) and
additional information on "broken arrows" to
the "Agents and A-Bombs" article in issue #108. I
try to avoid gilding the lily, so to speak, and I
confine my tinkering to minor additions.

Given the nature of half-satyrs and half-dryads
as outlined in your article, the rangerthief
combination seemed very reasonable for
them -- which it does (to my way of thinking)
for elves and half-elves as well.

This point is very confused in the AD&D
rules. The Players Handbook implies that elves
(page 16) may apparently use armor and cast
magic-user spells at the same time, and even
implies that gnome and half-elves may do the
same with their illusionist and magic-user talents,
respectively. Yet the book also specifically
forbids magic-users from wearing any sort of
armor, "for martial training is so foreign to
magic-use as to make the two almost mutually
exclusive? (page 25). Yet again, the Monster
Manual (page 39) notes that a multiclassed elf
has a chance of using magical armor. And yet
again, Unearthed Arcana (page 13) repeats the
ruling that magic-users and illusionists cannot
wear armor. The "Arcana update" article
(DRAGON issue #103, page 16) says that a multiclassed
character may use any armor and
weapons available to any one of the classes
without harming that character's performance.
Finally, Oriental Adventures forbids the use of
armor by wu jen (sorcerer) characters.

In short, I did my best to interpret the rules as
they stand. If my ruling is incorrect, which it
could very well be, it may be easily altered to
allow multiclassed spell-casters to wear any
armor they are able to use. Call it as you see it!

3. About magical chain mail: Half-satyrs were
noted, in the article, as being opposed to the use
of metal armor. This bias appeared to be a
deeply rooted cultural one, so mention of magical
chain mail was clipped to make the race
more consistent. Elfin chain was kept for reasons
noted in the article (DRAGON issue #109,
page 58). -- RM