off topic: is that even possible?

My friend Matt & I both run games using older editions--Matt is currently running an ADnD 2nd Edition game set in Ravenloft, and I am running the Outer Reaches campaign using ADnD 1st Edition rules.  From time to time, we get players who ask why we choose to run games using the rules that we do--aren't there newer editions or different game systems that do things better?

Without getting into an argument about which edition or tabletop RPG system is "best" (the answer is, of course, that it doesn't matter--playing RPGs with your friends is fun, regardless of what rules you use), it is worthwhile, in my opinion, to share insights that help explain the "why" when choosing a system for our games.  

This post is a recap of one particularly memorable session, from an unnamed campaign I ran with Matt & Rich, ADnD 2nd Edition rules set in the Forgotten Realms, some time between 1998 and 2000.  Their respective characters were Cadazcar Trelorn, a transmuter, and Erik Estrada, a warpriest of the god Tempus.  It was a defining moment in the campaign, one of the coolest moments in gaming I've ever been a part of, and one of the reasons why ADnD 2nd Edition continues to speak to me, as a game master.

At this point in the campaign, Cadazcar and Erik were somewhere around 8th or 9th level, and we were a couple years into the game (having started at 2nd level).  The characters were looking for someplace to establish roots--Erik had a small band of followers due to heroics in the city of Scornubel, Cadazcar was actively pursuing spell research--and the nearby ruins of Dragonspear Castle seemed the perfect place for a warpriest of Tempus to establish a stronghold.  Erik had worked with a smith in Scornubel to craft a magical maul, a talisman of his faith to the war god, and this was to be the symbol upon which the new stronghold would be built--the name given the maul was Making Friends.

It bears mention that I was never overly generous in the distribution of magical items.  Cadazcar had authored a unique spell or two and was in possession of a +3 dagger and a few scrolls.  Erik had a suit of +2 chainmail, won from a battle with undead at the site of the Battle of the Bones, and his maul--which at this point, if I remember correctly, bore a simple +1 or +2 enchantment.

Dragonspear Castle, however, was not currently fit for habitation.  A small band of priests, also followers of Tempus, resided therein.  Their task was to keep a lid on demons that were coming through a breach in the tunnels below the castle--a task which Erik immediately took upon himself to help accomplish, dragging Cadazcar along with him.  This was a common enough occurrence--the warpriest's zeal was the source of many plots throughout the campaign.

After some investigation in the ruins above ground, Cadazcar and Erik encountered a pair of demons--a cambion, which is essentially a cross between a dark elf and a demon, and an alu-fiend, a female demon with the appearance of an angel with feathered wings.  Spells were slung and Making Friends brought to bear on the fiends, but the battle was not going well for the heroes--the fiends conjured spheres of darkness that could not be countered by Cadazcar, and the fiends had summoned lesser demons to the fray.  The cambion was seemingly unaffected by the darkness, striking Erik several times from behind, rapidly depleting his health.  Both suffered several wounds, Cadazcar was nearly out of spells that would contribute to the fight, and Erik was at the ends of his strength.

Suddenly, Matt (playing Cadazcar) remembered that he had a scroll that I had rewarded him very early on.  He'd been holding on to it for a few levels, as the spell was well beyond his ability to cast.  Hesitantly, Matt announced "I take out my scroll and cast Mordenkainen's Disjunction."

To those of you not familiar with the spell, this is a Big Deal.  It's a 9th level spell, well beyond Cadazcar's ability to safely or reliably cast, and it essentially erases all magic within a certain radius.  It doesn't just dispel spells or temporarily shut down magic items and affects like dispel magic--it undoes magic.  It can even destroy artifacts, which are typically "throw it into the fires of Mount Doom" difficult to unmake.  What this means in actual play likely varies from DM to DM, but here's how I ruled it...

"Is that even possible?"  It was the only question I could come up with--all of us had pretty much forgotten about that scroll, it was actually rolled randomly off an encounter ages ago, and I don't think that anyone ever thought it would play such a big role in the campaign.  We scrambled for rulebooks, calculated chances of disastrous failure (due to the power level of the spell, relative to Cadazcar's own level)--the chances of something really bad happening were high, 55% if I remember correctly.  That, and I wasn't even sure what would happen IF the spell were cast successfully.  The spell description is vague as to how it actually interacts with stuff like summoned creatures or creatures from another plane, leaving much to be decided by the DM.  With little other recourse or hope of survival, however, the roll to cast the spell was made...successfully!

Decisions were made on the fly as to what the spell's resolution actually meant in play.  I mean, it's a 9th Level Spell, so it should be awesome...right?

Almost instantly, there was an implosion of magical energy.  Cadazcar's dagger and Erik's weapon and armor, including the maul Making Friends, which was a cornerstone to his identity, disintegrated.  The spheres of darkness were dispelled, the lesser demons summoned by the cambion and alu-fiend banished...leaving the fiends themselves.  I had no idea what to do with the spells effect, but it made sense at the time that it would force them back to their home plane, so that's what happened.

Completion of the spell left Erik & Cadazcar beaten, battered, and practically unarmed...but it worked.  Their foes were driven off.  The battle was over, and they would live to fight another day.