[D&D] The Crook of Rao

This magical artifact was described by Gary Gygax in Isle of the Ape:

Amidst the gems and magicks we bore out from the depths of Castle Greyhawk's dungeon, was a small mace, a mere toy it seemed, albeit one fashioned of iron and silver and encrusted with carven gemstones. No geegaw, that. It is a most charmed implement of clerical power, the Crook of Rao. If that One is most peaceful and serene, nonetheless his word is not to be lightly passed off. Long and long Rao has refrained from any meddling here, but he left with us a token of his power. Devils and demons of the Lower Planes shudder at the mere mention of the object. Daemonkind flee in terror at sight of it, and we need it now!

While the adventure centers around a fetch-quest to recover this artifact for the forces of Good, the item itself is not actually detailed within the module, which feels like a major failing. Not only should it be usable in the final confrontation at the end of the adventure, but a party of 18th level characters should be considered capable of retaining it and using it themselves against the forces of Evil, rather than being expected to dutifully hand it over to their NPC bosses.

So, in an attempt to rectify that failing, here's my take on a full description of the item, so that it may actually be used and not just serve as a flagrant plot-device. [Note: I realize this item was "officially" detailed by TSR in the post-Gary era; I am intentionally completely ignoring that version.]

Crook of Rao

GP Value: 75,000

This artifact was created and left behind on the Prime Material Plane many ages ago by Rao, Flannish god of peace, reason, and serenity, who otherwise concerns himself not with the affairs of mortals. It appears to be a miniature ceremonial mace (1' long - too small for effective combat use) with a silver haft and iron head shaped as a stylized shepherd's crook. There are two star sapphires embedded in the head, and six carnelians surrounding a large topaz on the pommel. The value of the crook as jewelry alone is 25,000 g.p. As with other artifacts, it does not radiate any sort of magic. 

The crook can be used to cast a remove fear spell or cure insanity by touch. Anyone wielding the crook is immune to mental and psionic attacks and may cast a withdraw spell at 18th level effect once per day.

Any undead or Lower Planar creature (including those not normally affected by clerical Turning) struck by the crook is affected as if hit by an 18th level mace of disruption. Undead and lesser Lower Planar creatures are permanently destroyed; greater Lower Planar creatures are affected as if their material form was slain.  Once a month the wielder of crook may call upon it to summon 1-6 astral devas. 

In the hands of a lawful good cleric the disruption effect of the crook covers a cone-shaped area 6" long and 2" diameter at its base, and is usable once per round. 

Any evil cleric or creature from the Lower Planes who touches the crook suffers 5-50 points of damage. Any non-lawful good character who uses any of the crook's powers must make a saving throw vs spells on each use or become lawful good. 

Activating the summoning power of the crook subjects the user to a quest to perform some task that furthers the cause of lawful good. 

Anyone who retains possession of the crook for one month or longer loses all interest in sex, and the longer the item is possessed the more serene and imperturbable its owner becomes - after three months he or she loses interest in money, after six months loses interest in family and friends, and if the crook is possessed for a year or more the owner will have no interest in anything external and desire only to to be left alone to spend the rest of his or her life peacefully contemplating the mysteries of the cosmos. 

[D&D] Return to Skull Island

Seeing Kong: Skull Island (which is very silly, but also totally fun and enjoyable and way better than the endless, overwrought Peter Jackson version) inspired me to take another look at Gary Gygax's AD&D module WG6: Isle of the Ape, which is, in simplest terms, an adventure about going to Skull Island, killing King Kong, and taking his stuff.

The adventure itself is pretty good - the island is a total green inferno, an environment so hostile that even high level characters are likely to be overwhelmed, especially since the magical environment of the island neutralizes a lot of the best magic (which I know is a complaint a lot of folks have had about the adventure over the years, but it's consistent with other high-level AD&D adventures and is actually consistent with the conceit in the latest movie that strange environmental effects preclude many technical advantages, like radio communication). The action is mostly combat and attrition, and in that regard it's pretty one-note, but there are at least a few opportunities for other aspects of play - some potential negotiations, and a couple of puzzles. When we played it back in the day we never finished it - we got bored by the relentless grindy combat and gave up on it - but I don't think it necessarily has to go down that way; a more careful approach could probably avoid a lot of the combat and make progress more quickly. This feels to me, on the basis of this recent re-reading, like an adventure that's worth playing, but if I were to do so (or recommend that others do so) I suggest a couple of changes:

1. The framing story is weak. Not just because it involves two full pages of excruciating read-aloud text, but for the whole notion that a group of super-powerful characters (this was the highest level AD&D module TSR had published up to that point) are being sent on an errand run to fetch a macguffin for some NPCs. That kind of thing is semi-acceptable for low level adventures (though even there I'm usually annoyed by it), but 18th level characters should be way, way beyond that. They're the ones who should be sending parties out on missions to fetch macguffins for them!

Luckily, this can be dropped without having to change anything else about the adventure. Just have the players learn the story on their own, and find their own means of getting there (I'm partial to actually venturing into the depths of Greyhawk Castle, but that would require a lot of extra prep work to set up), and go not to retrieve the Crook of Rao for offstage NPCs but to keep and use it themselves. The finale still works as-is - except that the players will want to avoid giving it up to either side, and the key to success will be sneaking out the back door with the loot while the two sides are ducking it out.

2. In all the movies, especially the most recent one, Kong is the hero! He's noble. We love seeing him smash stuff and are sad when he dies at the end. So making the premise of the adventure to kill him and take his stuff puts the players in the position of the bad guys - the ones we want to see get humiliated and smashed by Kong. That made sense in the original Greyhawk Castle version, when the players were all amoral and greedy and Skull Island was effectively a honeypot to lure overconfident characters to their doom, just like the Tomb of Horrors. But it doesn't work in the context of the module, where the players are supposedly good guys, and are killing Kong just because he's an incidental obstacle in the way of their goal, and especially because they're tough enough that, assuming they make it that far, they'll probably beat him in a fight.

I'd rather expand the scope so that it doesn't have to be about killing Kong. Maybe they can sneak past or distract him in order to steal his treasure without having to fight him. Maybe a PC can befriend him and convince him to give up the treasure willingly - maybe trading it for something. And best of all, maybe the PCs can team up with him against invading bad guys, directly or indirectly. The first two are compatible with the adventure as published, even though they aren't really discussed - you just need players who will think of it and a DM flexible enough to roll with it. The third requires some expansion - for the DM to create and send a rival adventuring party onto the island. It makes sense there would be one - given the premise of the adventure it's actually more surprising there isn't one. It raises the stakes and expands the scope and makes the adventure way more dynamic and interesting. Plus if the players are smart enough to team up with Kong against the rival party, it gives them the opportunity to cheer him on. Maybe there's even a way one of the players could take over Kong as their character for awhile via a Magic Jar or something. Now that would be a really awesome finale!