Arik of the Hundred Eyes

Arik of the Hundred Eyes is an Immortal who shows up in a passing reference in the adventure B3: Palace of the Silver Princess.  The Vaults of Pandius write-up hits the highlights, which are not many.

Official information:

Arik - Celestial, sphere of Entropy, imprisoned for unspecified crimes heinous enough to get him locked away from the multiverse for eternity. Banished to a prison dimension, he seeks ways to return to the multiverse. (B3, WotI)

Arik uses giant rubies the size of a large man's fist as his eyes - the Hundred Eyes in his tile. These are detachable at will, and function as conduits for the Immortal's power. This conduit functions across dimensions and allows Arik to wield Immortal-level power in a location without being actually present.

His clerics customarily wear blood-red robes with hoods hiding their faces, decorated with a hundred eyes - wearing plate mail underneath. All carry shields with his symbol - a single large red eye.

Kobolds and orcs are attracted to his service, and he has some influence over minor undead like skeletons.

And that's it.

There are other versions of Arik, such as those here, here, and here on page 23 of the Codex Immortalis.

(As an aside, The Vaults of Pandius have - and continue to provide - an excellent overview of all things Mystara-related.  If you are curious about what a proper fan-base supported game world looks like, look no further than the Vaults of Pandius.  Adventures, resources, the Threshold e-zine, and more make for a richer game world.)

Presuming that all of Arik's Eyes appear as large rubies, it becomes simple to find and place them elsewhere, like in the Shrine of Evil Chaos in B2: Keep on the Borderlands.  Specifically, in room 58. 

At the western end of the temple area is a dais of black stone, with four lesser chairs on its lower tier and a great throne above.  The chairs are of bone; the ivory throne is set with gold and adorned with gems of red and black (10 black stones each worth 100 gold pieces, 10 red stones each worth 500 gold pieces, and one large red stone worth 1,000 g.p.).

In my games, that large red stone is an Eye of Arik, and is what draws the monsters to the Caves of Chaos, just like in B3.  Just describe it as pulsing with light - a red strobe light that pulses faster or slower depending on circumstances.

Furthermore, I extrapolated that while officially his eye attracts orcs and kobolds, other Eyes may do other things, or many other things, in addition to or instead of attracting orcs and kobolds.

But rather than list out the 100 Eyes, a random table seems more fitting, so I present 12 powers an Eye of Arik might provide its wielder.

The ruby-red forcefield that features in B3 is powered by DM-fiat, so is not included in this list.

Fire Diamond by Gaboleps

-----

1 - summons giants (hill, frost, fire, stone - storm hear but can ignore the summons) and giant-kin (ogres, trolls, cyclops); their collective appetite soon strips the land.  (note that Against the Giants: The Liberation of Geoff might provide solid inspiration regarding what this looks like).

2 - summons corporeal undead who move towards the location regardless of time of day and weather; all that die in its glow reanimate as 1-3: zombies, 4-5: ghouls, 6: wights; wielder becomes an incorporeal undead when slain, bound to the gem. 1-2 wraith, 3-4 ghost, 5-6 spectre.

3 - this eye pulses raw arcane power, tinting everything in shades of red and transforming normal creatures into monstrous beasts and abominations that rage and feast darkly in the area.

4 - plant life grows riotous and verdant, becoming alive, sentient, malicious, and hungry.  The various plant monsters begin sprouting; the wielder quickly turns into a black hag that can control it all.

5 - troglodytes creep and tunnel towards the gem, worshipping the wielder (who in turn transforms into a giant frog-thing).

6 - summons beastmen (pig-head orcs, kobolds, gnolls, minotaurs, etc) to serve; the wielder becomes a beast-king (hill giant stats with the head of a lion).

7 - summons goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears and wolves (wargs); thouls often slip in with the hobgoblins and act as enforcers; the wielder's skin peels away to reveal a hobgoblin underneath and reigns as a potent goblin king.

8 - pulses after specific rituals (Arik winks the eye) and humans in the light transform into 1-4: wererats, 5-6 werewolves; orcs become wereboars.  Clerics of Arik become Devil Swine.

9 - magic warps the area, granting spell-like abilities to creatures normally without, spawning living spells that drift about wanting to be cast, awakening the spells of spellcasters in the area (these spells demand to be cast and on a failed save by the caster, will be cast), and clouds of wild magic that drift on the wind, changing (and infecting) magic used and encountered.  (DM Note: this could be an excuse to change rulesets in a campaign).

10 - raw magic permeates the area, animating objects and twisting insects and animals into giant and mutant versions of themselves.  As might be imagined, they are ravenous.

11 - inspires dragonlust for gold and hoarding; gold sickness; transforms beings of sufficient greed and power into red dragons

12 - calls Chaotic dragons to it, but mostly reds (but also black and green); dragons that sleep and bask in its glow grow more powerful in time (maxing out HP and other die rolls).

Fire Diamond by Lindsey Look

-----

The various monsters all come from the Rules Cyclopedia - originals are a fortune, but pdfs and POD hardbacks are quite affordable - and is a great example of what a one-book game should look like.

Anyhow, since so many of these options attract some type of nasty to it, it stands to reason that dungeon-building magic-users would be interested in acquiring one (or more) Eyes of Arik.  Given the potential power of magic-users in Mystara (level 36!), Arik doesn't mind his Eyes being used in this way and might even send his clerics as emissaries to magic-users with domains in order to "gift" them with an Eye for their dungeon.  

Maybe this time, the cultists will succeed in recruiting someone capable and willing to free Arik from the prison dimension! 

-----

Given the trouble that Eyes of Arik cause, destroying or containing one is a noble quest for heroic (or at least pragmatic) adventurers.

By way of example, the Eye of Arik in B3 (green cover) provides several specific methods:

The ruby can only be destroyed in three ways: (1) Three particular notes played on the Ice Harp will shatter the ruby.  (2) If the party brings two (or more) statuettes of the silver dragon into the room, the dragon Ariksbane will be freed from the Dimension of Ice.  The dragon's breath will disintegrate the ruby (without harming anything else in the room). (3) If some character touches the ruby Sword of Arik to the ruby Eye of Arik, both will crumble into worthless powder.  

Following the example of B3 suggests that each Eye's destruction requires significant effort, even if Ariksbane and the Ice Harp exist in your world, because they would still need finding. 

Dwarves: Clan Steelbeard

Some time back, I wrote a post about the Source of Dungeons.  Among other things, it posited one or more clans of Dwarves that specialized in digging dungeons for wizards that lacked the ability to magic one up themselves.

Here is one such clan.

-----

History

Clan Steelbeard dug its first dungeon for a human wizard several centuries ago, in exchange for services rendered.  Enjoying the challenge of the construction, as well as the wizard slaying a dragon for them, the Dwarves' leaders began hiring themselves out to other wizards wanting dungeons dug.

Within a century, Clan Steelbeard became the go-to diggers, generating much of their wealth and fame through these projects.  As might be expected, they also developed a series of best practices, as well as standardized offerings for complexes.  Between dungeons, the Clan contracts out to dig small tomb complexes for nobles and temples.

While Dwarves never turn down gold, mithral, or mead as payment, they know that most people - even Wizards - do not have enough to pay them in full.  This being the case, the Dwarves accept (and perhaps prefer) services in exchange.  These services being completed either before or during or after the contract, depending on negotiations.

Early on, and maybe once a century since then, some Wizards have attempted to renege or otherwise cheat the Dwarves.  In those situations, the Clan has collapsed the entrance(s) of a dungeon until payment is made in full.  Clearing the blockage is an extra fee.  If the offending Wizard still doesn't pay up, the Dwarves send someone to collect.

Dwarven Demolition Team by Kev Brockschmidt

Being Dwarves, the Steelbeards keep records of all the dungeons and tombs they have designed in a hidden, secure, guarded vault.   After all, integrity is something that Dwarves in the business of working with Wizards need.   Attempts to steal or purchase this information has so far failed.

So far.  

-----

Contracts

Contracts are drawn up by teams of skilled negotiators and barristers, and address all aspects of dungeon building: planning, siting, digging, procuring supplies (such as dressed stone or iron-bound oaken doors), provisioning the diggers, protecting the diggers, stocking the dungeon (with either caught wild beasts or the semi-tame dungeon beasts that the Dwarves raise for this purpose, like mimics and carrion crawlers and a wide array of fungi, molds, and slimes), found mineral rights, etc.

For planning purposes, the Steelbeards start with a decade per level of a complex, adding time in yearly increments from there. As might be imagined, Clan Steelbeard never has more than three or four projects going at one time.  The wait list is long and rumors suggest that for the right price, construction might move up (or down) the priority list.

When it comes to any discovered veins of ores or gems, a new contract is drawn up to dig them out.  The same goes for any ruins or caverns discovered.  Standard Clan Steelbeard practice is to block those areas off and continue around them until a mining or exploring contract is drawn up.  

Understandably, the more the Dwarves do, the more it costs the wizard.  

Given the nature and length of time to complete these dungeon-building contracts, the Clan often negotiates payment - in full or at least partially - in services, such as monster slaying, retrieving a specific item from elsewhere, item creation, or collecting debts from wizards that reneged on their contract.

Truth be told, the Dwarves especially enjoy the latter service, as it provides an unsubtle hint to the negotiating wizard about what happens to those that renege.  Incidentally, the negotiating wizards don't mind collecting these debts for the Dwarves, as they often score some potent arcane treasure for themselves in the process.

Having built these dungeons for centuries, Steelbeard Dwarves have an excellent idea of what some wizards are capable of, and as such, suggest to them that using certain specific spells may reduce costs and time of construction.  Veteran Steelbeard negotiators keep a list of known helpful Wizard spells and will suggest them in the course of negotiations.

Note that the Steelbeards will subcontract certain parts of its negotiated tasks to other Dwarf Clans and adventuring companies once the contract start date is reached.

All things considered, negotiating a contract can take months, but once it is locked in, it is locked in. 

The contract complete, the Dwarves celebrate with ale and song, as Dwarves do.

Dwarven Song by Dan Frazier

-----

Call to Adventure

PCs might be engaged to clear a discovered cavern, protect Clan builders and property, run or guard supply caravans, acquire plans to a different dungeon or tomb, dig out a closed dungeon, capture monsters for use in a dungeon, relocate or create undead for a dungeon, spread rumors about a new dungeon, convincing Clan leaders to move a specific dungeon up or down on the priority list, acquire prizes to bait a dungeon with, to test parts of a dungeon, or to clear a dungeon entirely. 

All for the sake of Wizards wanting to farm magic items and monster parts.

While the Steelbeard Clan (or one of its negotiating teams) might be a solid patron to PCs, the paying Wizard or a rival Wizard might also hire PCs on for any number of tasks.  

Of course, a rival Wizard will be hiring to disrupt the construction, so planting monsters, sowing dissension among workers, reducing or poisoning supplies, or outright attacking the Dwarves might be on the table.  Crossing an entire Clan of Dwarves that have several allied Wizards as business partners may not be the smartest thing PCs do, but PCs aren't known for exercising high wisdom scores outside of spell bonuses for specific rulesets.

Magic Item: Wheel of Fortune

The Rules Cyclopedia never fails to reveal something new with subsequent readings.  This time, I found the Wheel of Fortune on page 242, between Wheel of Floating and Wheel, Square.

Wheel of Fortune, by Daniel Gelon

The best part of the item description is this:

If desired, the wedges may be numbered from 1-20, 1-100, or some other conveniently determined number, and a chart may be made with more varied results.

That's right - customization is encouraged.  The basic Wheel of Fortune provides 6 positive results and 6 negative results, so an equal amount of both types of results makes complete sense.  

Looking at other BECMI and BX sources, we see that eating rock chips in B1 and drinking from a fountain in B5 both provide random effects (d20 and d8, respectively).  What all three have in common are the number of ways to raise and lower various (or all) attribute scores. B1 and the RC both provide free treasure in the form of cash, gems, and even minor magic items, as well as take it away.  It's worth noting that BECMI doesn't have a Deck of Many Things (at least the Rules Cyclopedia doesn't), but the DoMT is a similar item worth looting of ideas.

Using all these as potential sources, I have this as my draft expanded d20 Wheel of Fortune.

It features 10 positive and 10 negative results, with source in parentheses.

1 - Subtract 1 from each ability score (B5)

2 - Add 1 to each ability score (B5)

3 - Subtract 1 from Prime Requisite (RC)

4 - Add 1 to Prime Requisite (RC)

5 - Permanently lose 1d4+1 hit points (B5ish)

6 - Permanently gain 1d4+1 hit points (B5ish)

7 - Gems on person crumble to dust

8 - 3d10 gems appear in your mouth, stuffing your cheeks (Goonies).

9 - Jewelry on person turns into cheap costume jewelry worth nothing.

10 - 2d4 pieces of jewelry appear on your body.  

11 - Coins on person turn to lead.

12 - Coins rain down from above! type 1d8 1-2 copper, 3-5 silver, 6-7 gold, 8 platinum; 1d4 thousand copper and silver, 1d4 hundred gold and platinum.

13 - The least valuable magical item carried by spinner disintegrates (RC).

14 - A random weapon carried by spinner gains an enchantment (B1ish).

15 - Cursed! Roll on the Cursed! subtable below (B1ish).

16 - Blessed! Roll on the Blessed! subtable below.

17 - All nonmagical items carried and worn disintegrate into dust (RCish).

18 - All nonmagical items carried and worn become the finest quality possible, to include changing materials and workmanship.  

19 - Spinner dies.  No saving throw. (RC)

20 - Grants a wish, and the spinner knows it and can use it whenever they like.

Cursed! (d8) Note that a Remove Curse spell will suppress the curses for a time, but a true cure is required to finally be rid of each curse; knowledge of the true cure comes with the curse.

1 - Lycanthropy - d8 1-3 Wererat, 4-6 Werewolf, 7- Weretiger, 8- Devil Swine.

2 - Slow Healing - magic only heals 1 hp per casting; normal healing takes twice as long.

3 - Berserker - when combat begins, won't stop until all around are down, allies included.

4 - Unlucky - rolls disadvantage on all rolls.

5 - Marked - Charisma effectively reduced to 5 for reaction rolls, loyalty checks, and such.

6 - Hunted - something wants you dead - and it's coming.  DM choice of monster.

7 - Polymorph - d6 1-4 become a talking normal sized animal; 5-6 become a monster.  DM choice.

8 - Geased! - DM choice of what the spinner MUST do.

Blessed!

1 - Polyglot - gains the ability to speak and understand (but not read) 1d6+1 additional languages.

2 - Sniffer - can smell metal with concentration, as per the detect metal ability (like a magic sword). Full disclosure, I lifted this entry from the Idalium Story Hour on Dragonsfoot.

3 - Healer - can lay on hands to heal a person of disease, blindness, poison, or damage. 1/day

4 - Confident - Charisma raises to 18 for reaction rolls, loyalty checks, and such.

5 - Caster - can cast one useful spell per day: d6 1-3 Detect Magic, 4-5 Continual Light, 6 Knock

6 - Nature's Friend - animals are friendly towards you; you can Speak with Animals at will.

7 - Lucky - roll all nonattack and nondamage rolls at advantage. 

8 - Regenerate - as per ring; note that weapons that damage regenerators affect you, now

-----

It occurs to me that a group of enterprising (and morally questionable) individuals, be they PCs or organized bandits, might force captives to spin the wheel to harvest the treasure they may generate.

After all, the rules themselves state:

A charmed creature cannot move the wheel, and each user can spin the wheel only once per day. p241

So anyone charmed cannot spin the Wheel of Fortune.  Everyone else, though, can.

Forcing captives at swordpoint to spin the Wheel results in wealth-farming.  Yes, the captives may die, but I don't see that being an issue to bandits (or many PCs).  Why, an enterprising sort may even charge others for a spin, while a scholarly sort might try and document likely effects to 'find the pattern'.  Canny individuals will eventually realize the bad spins that disintegrate wealth and items only affects items carried, so stripping naked (or to a loincloth for PG-rated games) mitigates those rolls.  

If only using the book version of the Wheel of Fortune, there are 4 (out of 12) chances to score wealth: 1,000 gp OR 10 garnets OR a brooch OR a miscellaneous magic item.  These treasures just appear.  Me being me, I'd argue that this treasure comes from somewhere, likely a nearby dragon hoard or the treasure vaults of someone or something powerful.  As written though, they just materialize through the power of magic.  

Those wanting to cheat the house through telekinesis, other magic, or outright damage to the Wheel find that it all fizzles.  All magic fails except for Wish - wishes involving the Wheel of Fortune in any way cause it to disappear, but for good or just teleporting away to another location, the rulebook doesn't say.

The rules do specify that the wheel weighs 20,000 coins (2,000 pounds) and can only be moved by a creature with 26+ HD or levels, meaning that only the most powerful PCs are going to be able to move this into their strongholds, and then only by brute force, as the wheel is immune to pretty much all magic.  A mean translation suggests that even draft animals won't help, as they lack the HD.  

It would be far simpler for PCs to turn the location of the Wheel of Fortune into their stronghold; it would likely be cheaper, as well.

A Cursed! but Wealthy regular spinner of the Wheel of Fortune

From Return to Brookmere, art by Tim Truman

-----

A bonus entry I am not sure where to put:

Dragon - a rift opens above you, streaming down thousands of silver, gold, and platinum coins, as well as dozens of gems and pieces of jewelry. With this wealth falls 2d4+1 magic items.  You dream at night of flight and flame, and find yourself changing ... shifting ... into a red dragon in 1d8 days.  The DM takes control of this now-NPC.