Thoughts About Persuasion Checks

There are many times I can think of where I wished my real life experience was more like Dungeons and Dragons. For example, if my D&D character wants to convince a non-player character of something, the Dungeon Master might ask me to "make a Persuasion check." So if I can roll a high enough number on a 20-sided die (including bonuses for being Charismatic), the DM would inform me that I've successfully changed the NPC's mind. With a low number on the d20, however, the DM might explain that my character's arguments were simply not strong enough, or that they got nervous and said the wrong thing, for example, and the NPC remains unmoved.

In real life, the skill of persuasion is a lot more complicated than the randomness of a die-roll. First of all, you actually have to come up with the arguments you want to use, rather than leaving them to the imagination. At one time, that's what I thought was the most important part of getting someone to see your point of view: the arguments. I like to think of myself as a logical person (it's the blue mana in me), so putting myself in the opposite position, I think a clear, well-crafted argument based on facts would be the best way for someone else to change MY mind about something. However, a closer examination of this strategy shows that it's lacking a key component, one that's best summed up in the saying "it's not what you say, but how you say it."

When you come at someone with only logic and facts, it presents yourself as "the one who knows." This in turn presents the person who's mind you want to change as "the one with insufficient information and inferior/flawed reasoning." Even if your facts are impeccable and your arguments are perfect enough to convince someone that they are wrong about something, it can be extremely hard for that person to accept that they are wrong. A good persuasion check is not just a good argument, but also takes into account the mental state of the character who is the target of the check.

I realize now that my focus on the content of a position (philosophical, political, or otherwise) only looks at the end result: here is a position THAT I HOLD, and I want it to be a position THAT YOU HOLD. It completely ignores the process of TRANSITIONING from "the position you currently hold" to "the position I want you to hold." If someone holds an incorrect position, what was the method by which they arrived at that position? And what's the broader point of view of someone who holds that position? And what might that point of view tell me about the likelihood of that person's changing their mind? And why?

This is why in D&D there's additional modifiers that you add to your skill checks if you've trained in that particular skill. For example, a character who is "proficient in Persuasion" might have put a lot of thought into the above topics, and come up with some useful working theories. I haven't done a lot of training in this skill myself, and I wouldn't claim to be a naturally charismatic persuader. But one thing I'm reasonably sure of is that no one changes their mind by being bewildered. D&D has the Intimidation skill for that. Unfortunately, that's how many of the people with the most convincing facts/arguments tend to engage on platforms such as Twitter. Or, if you're a GOP lawmaker, on the floor of congress.

In the category of "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing," I would say the first step is to look at persuasion from the point of view of compassion, particularly self-compassion. Changing one's belief system is a difficult process, no matter for what reason. Once again putting myself in the opposite position, and thinking of what frame of mind would make me most likely to change my beliefs, it would be if the convincer had some compassion for the worldview-changing ordeal I would be going through. And then of course I would need to have some compassion for myself, not just for how hard it is to change one's opinion, but as a consolation for holding incorrect beliefs to begin with.

Of course there's the real danger of appearing condescending when striving for compassion; or alternatively, of beating yourself up when it comes to self-compassion. There's tips to avoiding those pitfalls and more in Kristin Neff's book "Self Compassion." The point is that in order to change someone's mind, you have to come at it from a position of caring about that person. Which is, come to think of it, how we should go about all communication, and much of everyday life in general. But convincing some people of that is a whole 'nother story.

Valgod Chapter 2: The Rosebush

"It sure is nice to see the coastline receding again." Sebastian Tweet stands on the deck of a cargo schooner, watching the port city of Dar'Druev shrink in the distance of the southern coast of Valgod. "And it's even nicer to be a passenger on your very fine ship, Mr. Badger, sir."

"It's just 'Badger,'" replies the ship's captain. The middle-aged human stands a fair bit shorter than his half-elf swashbuckler companion, and a bit more wobbly, due to the rather sizable quantity of rum he'd already consumed on their young journey. But it's clear he was a formidable seafarer in his heyday. "And we're glad to have ye and yer friends on the Rosebush. I think the crew is enjoying having some new blood aboard."

Indeed, Seb's two companions seem to be getting along swimmingly with the other sailors. Allen Gootfin stands at the wheel, eagerly taking notes as the ship's navigator Aiden, another high elf, explains the basics of nautical equipment. Meanwhile, Barak Ooda spars with the first mate Jenk, and quite a crowd of deckhands had gathered around to see the burly minotaur go toe-to-toe with the agile lizardfolk. They were having a competition, with the loser of each bout required to drink a swig of rum, although Barak had taken to drinking after each win as well.

L to R: Jenk trains with Barak, Sebastian to with Badger, Allen learns from Aiden

"We should reach Fairport in seven or eight days' time," remarks Badger. "We'll drop off our shipment, then you three can try to make nice with the Waveborn paladins, or find passage up the coast toward Smuggler's Cape, if yer business be of the more shady variety. I won't ask any questions either way."

"And we appreciate your... discretion," replies Sebastian, gratefully. "Although I assure you, our affairs are strictly above board and completely--"

But he is interrupted by a shrill whistle coming from the crow's nest above.

"Ship off the port stern!" cries Philip, the young deckhand, from his spot keeping watch. "She's still afar off, but gaining fast!"

"Perhaps I can help get a closer look," offers Allen, running up to the gunwale. He snaps his fingers, and his familiar, a celestial raven, pops into existence. "Good to see you again, Tim! We have need of your far-seeing eyes once again." The bird cocks its head, lets out an agreeable squawk, and takes to the skies.

In a flourish of magic, Allen's eyes go blank, as he begins to see through his familiar's eyes. (They make a big deal out of this in Game of Thrones, where it's known as "warg-ing," but it's just a first level spell, people, it's nothing too special.) As Tim the bird got closer, Allen could just begin make out the designs on the sails of the approaching ship, when a magic missile comes hurtling toward his field of vision, followed by a loud pop.

"Shiver me Tim-bird!" shouts Allen, as his senses return to himself. "I do believe they have a magic-user on board. I couldn't see much, but the sails were definitely a deep shade of green. And the magic missile that hit my familiar was in the shape of a skull."

"The Glass Skulls!?" groans Badger, taking a deep pull from his rum bottle. "What does Finnerup want with us now?"

"Did you say Glass Skulls?" asks Allen, his ears perking up in recognition. "You mean the same gang that ambushed us back by the docks, when we found that map--?"

"Allen must be mistaken," interrupts Sebastian, giving his companion a subtle 'cut it out' hand-across-the-neck gesture. "I've certainly never heard of the Glass Skulls before. But come Badger, let's go into your cabin, we'll have a drink, and you can tell us all about them."

Sebastian jerks his head at Barack to follow him. The minotaur grabs the bottle of rum from Jenk and stomps towards the door leading belowdecks, none of the crew daring to stand in his way. "Private meeting with the captain," he bellows, ushering his companions inside. As he closes the door behind him, he turns to speak: "And prepare to be boarded!"

===

"I should'a known Finnerup would catch up to us sooner or later," moans Badger. He drains the dregs from his bottle of rum, only to find another one at his elbow, gently nudged forward by Sebastian. Badger uncorks it and takes another long drink. "That miserable scallywag has always had it in for me."

"Don't despair, captain, we'll find a way out of this," offers Sebastian. "My friends and I are great problem-solvers. But you need to tell us as much as possible about this Finnerup character, so we know what we're up against."

Badger considers for a moment, then takes another drink. "I wasn't always in charge of a merchant ship. Back in the day, I was a fearsome pirate captain! And Finnerup was my first mate. Until he poisoned the minds of my crew, and took control himself!"

"So you're saying that you've been the victim of a mutiny before? Very interesting..." Sebastian throws a sidelong glance at Barak, who is drinking from his own bottle of rum, although the liquor has noticeably little effect on the minotaur. Meanwhile, Allen is taking detailed notes of Badger's story in his journal.

"I was forced out of the pirating life in disgrace," continues Badger. "Lucky to escape with my life, I was. But I was able to rebuild and start over, trading goods for hire. Meanwhile, Finnerup joined the ranks of the Glass Skulls and ascended to their leader. Until now, he had been content with my humiliation, but it looks like that's all changed!" Badger breaks down sobbing, his head sinking down onto his desk.

"There, there, Badger," consoles Sebastian, gently lifting up the captain's head and coaxing the bottle of rum towards him. "You just need some more liquid courage and everything will be just fine."

"What are you doing?" whispers Allen. "If he drinks much more, he'll be in no shape to face a ship full of pirates!"

"Don't worry," winks Sebastian. "THIS Badger is not going anywhere near any pirates..."

===

"Badger! I know you're in there! Come on out, I burn yer ship into the sea!"

The ship in question, the Rosebush, was anchored alongside a much larger and more heavily-armed vessel. The two ships were attached with grappling hooks on either side, and a boarding bridge in the center. Standing menacingly on this corvus was Finnerup the Fool, speaker of the above threat. The captain of the Glass Skulls has a physique somewhere between scrawny and wiry, a bald head under a green bandana, and shifty, darting eyes.

Standing on the deck behind Finnerup, his massive first mate in full plate mail was locking eyes (or rather where their eyes might presumably be, behind the closed visor of their helmet) with Badger's first mate Jenk, who was stoically defending his ship. Meanwhile, the Rosebush's navigator Aiden was sizing up his counterpart on the other ship, a buxom Dwarven woman who smelled faintly of lavender, and whose fingers sparkled as though she was ready to fire off another skull-shaped magic missile at a moment's notice.

Finnerup and the Glass Skulls

"Ye know I'll do it, Badger, ye old seadog!" growls Finnerup. "Ye don't wanna lose ANOTHER ship, do ye?" This was met with a chorus of laughter from Badger's former crew.

All of a sudden, the door to the captain's cabin bursts open, and Badger stumbles out, clutching a nearly empty bottle of rum. "Alright Finnerup," the gray-haired captain slurs. "I know when I'm beat. I get the MESSAGE!" Jenk hurries back to help his captain from falling, but the lizardfolk pauses at a dismissive hand-wave from Badger, who takes a moment to steady himself. "So what'll it be? Ya want our shipment of fine silks bound for Fairport? Or is it RUM yer after?" Badger drains his bottle, tosses it over the railing, then pulls another one from his satchel.

"Don't be coy with me, old salt," sneers Finnerup. "We'd been watchin' ye closely in Dar'Druev. We know ye picked up three passengers: a two elves and a minotaur. Or an elf, a man, and a minotaur."

"I believe the word you're searching for is half-elf?" offers Finnerup's navigator.

"Whatever they be," shouts Finnerup, "they stole sumthin' from me, and I aim to get it back!"

"Ya got me, Finnerup," admits Badger. "They were on board this ship. And the good-lookin fellow was in fact a half-elf," confirms Badger, throwing a lusty wink to the female dwarf at the helm, who blows a kiss in return. "But now, only one of 'em's left. Care to take a look?" The old former pirate takes a step back and gestures clumsily into his cabin.

Finnerup looks warily around, then nods to his first mate to follow him as he hops lightly onto the enemy ship. The armored figure takes hold of a giant halberd and clomps after their captain, with Jenk forced to step aside to avoid being trampled.

As Finnerup cautiously peers inside Badger's cabin, he catches sight of a large steel cage, inside of which sits the bound form of Barak Ooda!

"Well blow me down!" utters Finnerup. "How did you bilge rats manage to subdue a minotaur? That horn-head and his mates killed five of my best fighters!"

"Got the drop on 'em, we did," explains Badger. "They came to us seeking passage, so we made 'em feel safe, then we set on 'em during the night. Kept the minotaur alive to sell to the fighting pits."

"Seems I underestimated you, bucko," muses Finnerup, moving uncomfortably close to Badger. "But I don't care a wooden dubloon about no minotaur. I want the map."

"Oh, I've got the map," says Badger, producing the ornate tube from behind Barak's cage. "And you're welcome to have it..." Finnerup smiles as Badger leans in close, but his face changes to a look of surprise when the voice that speaks the next phrase doesn't sound like his old drunken captain, but rather like a charismatic half-elf adventurer. "...when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers."

Art from "Deadeye Brawler" by Jesper Ejsing

The bottle of rum in "Badger's" other hand comes crashing down on Finnerup's skull, causing the pirate captain to stagger back towards the railing. Then the body that looks like Badger's launches into a nifty backflip, grabs hold of a piece of rope from the rigging, and swings into a devastating kick. Both feet that look like Badger's connect squarely with Finnerup's chest, sending him tumbling into the sea.

At the same moment, Barak lets out a rage-fueled roar and charges straight through the bars of his illusory cage towards Finnerup's first mate, who has taken up a fighting stance. The armored brute meets the full fury of the minotaur and goes sliding backwards, but the two appear evenly matched. Without missing a beat, Jenk leaps into the fray, unleashing a flurry of blows on the pirate's lower body, throwing off their center of gravity. Barak uses the opportunity to hook his horns under his enemy's arms and heave them over the side.

Seeing this situation unfold, the dwarven navigator leaps down onto the deck and begins to cast a spell as she rushes towards the boarding bridge. But as soon as she steps on the gangplank, it begins to rise up, seemingly of its own accord. She loses her balance and follows her companions into the sea, just as the formerly invisible form of Allen Gootfin reappears, straining with all his might to shove the bridge off the side of their ship.

"Weigh anchor and hoist the mizzium!" calls out Allen, as a bolt of fire flies from his outstretched hand and ignites the green sails of Finnerup's ship.

"It's actually MIZZEN, but I get the point!" shouts Aiden in reply. He grabs hold of the ship's wheel, shouting orders to the crew, as Barak finishes unhooking the final grappling hooks.

As the Rosebush beats a hasty retreat, a cloud of magical fog billows out around the form of Badger, who drops the illusion and morphs back into Sebastian Tweet. He laughs at the sight of Finnerup's crew, trying desperately to douse their flaming sails while fishing their captain out of the water.

"Who's the bilge rats now!?"

Valgod: a DnD Fan Fiction

art is from Swaggering Corsair by Scott Murphy

A half-elf and a minotaur walk into a tavern. This tavern is dark and dingy, as are most taverns in the port city of Dar Druev, but especially so on this part of the docks. And it's also filled mostly with out of work sailors... as are most taverns on the southern coast of the continent of Valgod. In fact, the dashing half-elf looks like he'd be more at home in a ship's rigging than on dry land, with a flowing mane of dark brown hair and a rapier at his side. The minotaur, on the other hand, cuts quite the figure of hired muscle, constantly throwing side-eyed glances at the patrons, never letting anyone get into a threatening position. For his part, the massive horned creature, with fur and skin so grey it looks almost blue in the right light, receives plenty of similar glances, as his undersized companion sidles up to the bar and orders two ales.

"Ah, now that's a foine ale you've got the-yeah," remarks a sturdy-looking high elf sitting on a nearby stool, in a heavy Earth-British accent. Next to him on the floor is a homemade sandwich board sign that reads Allen Goodfin's Knowledge Emporium! And underneath in smaller print, Where Learning is All In Good Fun... "Despite being known for its relatively cheap price, this particular batch is actually quite good quality, owing to its being made from a surplus of the finest wheat and barley from the southern valleys..."

As Allen Gootfin turns to the minotaur and goes on talking, the swashbuckler and his bodyguard give him a once-over. The elf is wearing polished scale mail, adorned with religious imagery, has a short sword and shield strapped to his side (both of Elven make, of course), but atop his head sits not a helm, but a tall pointed and brimmed hat best associated with Merlin, Gandalf, and other wizardly types. The two companions share a knowing glance.

"...the distillation process of grains from this district..." continues Allen, now addressing no one in particular.

"Thanks for the information, friend," the dashing rogue interrupts. "In fact, barkeep, kindly get one more ale for...mister Gootfin, is it? No, it's no trouble at all! My name is Sebastian Tweet, but my friends call me Seb. And this is my companion, Barrack."

"Of the Uda clan," pipes in the minotaur loudly, as he drains his ale in one shot. "Barkeep, another ale!"

"Why thank you very much, and pleased to make your aquaintances, Seb Tweet and Barrack Uda!" replies Allen gratefully. "And especially you, Mister Uda, as it's certainly rare to see a minotaur in these parts." Alan turns away from his new friends and addresses a random patron who has just approached the bar. "Originally from the land of Krynn, the minotaur are known as ferocious sea raiders, who rank as some of the most dangerous sailors in the world. But they are equally at home in the gladiatorial arenas of their homeland, which..."

"Excuse me, my friend," Sebastian breaks in once again. "But if you're truly in the knowledge trade, I might have some business for you." Seb reveals a ring that he has fastened on a chain around his neck. "You see, I came across this ring in my... travels, and I believe it holds great power. But I haven't been able to find out anything about it. Would you mind giving it a look?"

"Certainly, my lad," Alan eagerly begins inspecting the ring. "Hmm, it doesn't feel inherently magic. But I also sense that it could be used as a focus to channel great magical power. And... hang on a minute, what's THIS? It looks like there's a symbol carved onto the underside of the ring."

Elvish Rejuvenator by Winona Nelson

Allen holds the ring up for Seb and Barrack to see. "This symbol is associated with Desha, the Harmonist, one of the gods of the old pantheon of Valgod. These gods are now, of course, long forgotten, as they've all been missing since the destruction of the city of Old Stilgeras in The Tempest," Alan continues, this time turning to the barkeep, who has been doing his best to ignore these diatribes all day. "But the legend of Desha states that she was estranged and reclusive, and that she saw herself as the ultimate balancer. With full control over the forces of life and death, the dark deity held the greatest influence over the mortal world. She was a selfish and power-hungry figure, not at all like the patron deity of my clerical order, Ora Sen, the Skeptic, who champions thought and reason above all else..."

Sebastian only smiles and nods as Barrack continues pounding ales and Alan goes on pontificating long into the night.

===

As night falls over the harbor, three humanoids exit a tavern: a dashing half-elf, a gigantic minotaur, and a high elf carrying a homemade sandwich board under one arm.

"Well, Allen, it was a pleasure to meet you," says the half-elf, shaking Allen's free hand. "Thanks for the information about the ring, and good luck with your emporium business."

"You're very welcome, Sebastian," replies the full-elf. "And this knowledge DISPENSING business is only temporary. Once I drum up enough gold to pay for ship's fare, I'll be on my way in my quest to circumnavigate the continent of Valgod, so I can get back to more knowledge ACQUIRING..."

As Allen droned on, the minotaur perked up his ears and nudged Seb between the ribs.

"What is it, Barrack?" the rogue asks. As the minotaur points down the road, the three companions could make out the figure of an old man running towards them as he crested over the top of the hill. He was soaking wet, as if he just emerged from the sea, and he carried an ornate cylindrical container.

As the old man approaches, Barrack turns his six-foot, six-inch, 338 pound frame to block the path of the fugitive, who surprisingly continues running at full speed until he collapses into the arms of the minotaur. He thrusts the container into Barrack's hands and gasps, "Keep it safe!" before crumpling to the ground. At this point, the heads of five armed humans in pursuit also crest above the hill.

"Don't panic, old man, we'll help you out!" shouts Sebastian, frantically looking around, and then ushering the old man towards an unattended barrel on the side of the road. "Get in there and let me do the talking."

The man complies and crawls inside, as the water continues to drip off him and slowly fill the barrel. Sebastian plunks the lid on the barrel and sits on top of it as the five armed men reach him and slow to a halt.

"Nothing to see here, fellas," Sebastian calls out, doing his best to act casual.

"Hand over the old man, now!" shouts the clear leader of the group, wearing a finely crafted breastplate and armed with a distinctive bastard sword. He and the rest of his colleagues all wear green bandanas.

"Uh, I think he went that way," offers Sebastian, pointing down the street in the opposite direction. "If you keep running at top speed, you might just catch him."

"Are ye daft?" questions the leader. "I saw you stuff him in that barrel a minute ago! He's got something that belongs to us."

"Forgive me sir, but who is US?" asks Allen, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"You're telling me you don't know about the Glass Skulls?" laughed the leader, incredulously. "We OWN the streets of Dar'Druev, and anyone who gets in our way is gonna have to answer to the captain."

"Well, pardon me, but I'm not FROM Dar'Druev," answers Allen. "I make my home in Calphania, the High Elven city, far to the north. Our main exports are..."

"Shut up and give us that map!" yells the leader angrily, realizing that Barrack is still holding the old man's bundle.

Labyrinth Minotaur by Anson Maddocks

Barrack looks down at the bundle innocently, then back up to the leader. "Make me," the minotaur says.

The leader just chuckles and raises his sword. "Have at 'em, lads!"

Two of the thugs flank their leader and get ready with their spears, while the two in the back run up a nearby staircase and take sniping positions with their crossbows. The leader and the minotaur are already exchanging heavy blows, the former with his sword, the latter with his razor sharp horns, while the swashbuckler engages one of the lackeys in a dueling stance with his rapier.

Allen simply turns around and says, "As soon as I saw Barrack take that threatening stance in the middle of the road, I knew there was gonna be trouble. And I'm saying to myself, I just met these guys, I don't know what they're capable of, and I definitely don't want to get in over my head. But then there's this dripping wet fellow in the barrel, and I don't know WHAT to make of him..."

Meanwhile Sebastian runs his sword through his opponent's gut, just as Barrack is pierced by a crossbow bolt. This leaves him stunned enough that he couldn't dodge a tremendous hack from the leader's greatsword, briefly staggering the blue beast.

Allen's face suddenly turns grim with steely resolve. "But looking at the situation, I just didn't like the looks of these Glass Skull characters. So that's when I decided to let loose with a MAGIC MISS-eye-ull!" (The last syllables of which was of course the verbal component of the first level spell Magic Missile.)

In an awesome display of power, Alan whirls his hands in an arcane gesture, and sends FOUR magical bolts of energy at the leader, each shaped like a large library book. Each of the projectiles hit home, the last one tearing a hole in the warrior's throat.

Immediately the two snipers turn their attention to the magic user, allowing Barrack and Sebastian to double team the final spear lackey. However one crossbow bolt soars over Allen's head, while the other plinks harmlessly off his armor.

"Hey, you might hurt someone with that thing!" mocks Allen, looking derisively at the archer who came the closest. "I COMMAND you to DROP!"

Without a word, the archer lets their crossbow fall and drops to the ground. Their friend up on the ledge panics and runs, only to be met by the full fury of the Barrack's horns on the way down.

By the time the panicked archer had recovered their senses and reached for their bow, Sebastian had already deftly leapt up to the balcony and had his sword at their neck.

"Not so fast there," threatens the swashbuckler. "Why don’t you tell me what's so special about that map?"

"I-I-I don’t know," the archer replies, terrified. "Just sumthin the boss wanted, I swear!"

Sebastian looks them over and considers a bit. "Eh, I believe you," he concludes, running them through with his rapier. "Let’s find out what else that old wet dude knows."

But when Barrack opens the lid of the barrel, only water remains. The three adventurers look at each other, then at the map, then back down to the water.

"Anyone thirsty?" asks Sebastian with a coy smile.

Valgod: a Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Adventure

Magic Cards vs Dungeons and Dragons Spells

Abstract: Exploring the link between the five (5) colors of mana in Magic: The Gathering and the eight (8) schools of magic in Dungeons and Dragons, through specific names shared by both spells and cards.

Methodology: Using a proprietary database I made of D&D spells from various Player's Handbooks, and a lot of copy-pasting into Scryfall, I determined that nearly 200 spells had names that were the same as, or extremely similar to, Magic cards. By adding the colors of those cards into my database, I was able to sort by both color identity (which all cards have) and school of magic (to which all spells belong) to determine any correlations between the two.

I am also aware that in the flavor of Magic, cards are also technically "spells," but I'm using CARD to refer only to the strategy game side of the equation, while reserving the term SPELL only for the role-playing game side. For reference, the players handbookses I used for my database are from Advanced D&D (printed in 1980, hereafter referred to as 2nd edition), Third Edition (printed 2000, 3rd), and Fifth Edition (printed 2014, 5th).

Findings (listed alphabetically):

Abjuration (protection, disruption) is the least well represented school among Magic cards, with just three spells sharing exact names, and three more sharing partial names (or similar ideas). Only one of the top three spells appear in multiple editions: Death Ward was in 3rd and 5th, but was only in the Abjuration school in its latest version - it started out in Necromancy (see below). Meanwhile, the card Death Ward is a White instant from Magic's very first set (Limited Edition Alpha and Beta), that basically mirrors the effects of the 5e spell. If that doesn't cover the "protection" aspect of abjuration enough, consider that White also has a cycle of cards all titled Circle of Protection, and the majority of the cards in the game that refer to the static ability Protection (cf. rule 702.16) are White.

As for the disruption side of ABJ, let's look at the phenomena of countermagic and bounce. Counterspell, also from Limited Edition, is an exact match for the spell in 5th of the same name (countering spells was a much more complicated process in 2nd and 3rd). Then there's the spell from all three D&D editions Dispel Magic, the effect of which is actually more similar to the White Magic card Disenchant than it is to the Blue Dispel, which is just a conditional counterspell. In another strange yet appropriate disconnect, the 3rd edition spell Dismissal is basically as close as you can get to a D&D phrasing of "return target creature to its owner's hand," which is an effect commonly found in Blue mana (e.g. Unsummon). Incidentally, there are four cards with dismissal in the name, three of which are Blue and contain either counter of bounce effects. In terms of utility spells, the card Intruder Alarm shares some important similarities with the 3rd and 5th edition spell Alarm.

Conclusion: White and Blue pretty accurately sum up Abjuration, full stop. This one was like the tutorial level of a video game.

Conjuration (creation, summoning) has one of the clearest connections to Magic of the schools, but somewhat of a disconnect between specific card names. On the one hand, Summoning is a subtype of Conjuration in 2nd and 3rd editions (not just a descriptor, like the two words next to Abjuration), and Magic's oldest Creature cards all have "Summon" printed on them. So technically, the relative majority of all Magic cards correspond to the Conjuration school. While all colors of mana obviously have access to Creature cards, the one that immediately comes to mind is Green, since the relative majority of all creature spells are Green. Although it's worth noting that five 2nd edition spells outline the type of creature being summoned, which line up with Creature cards that are either Red (Conjure Fire Elemental and Conjure Earth Elemental), Blue (Aerial [Air] Servant and Invisible Stalker), or Black ([Dread] Cacodemon).

On the other hand, there are ten other Conjuration spells with Magic card names, out of which all five colors of mana are represented. But the most puzzling part of this school is that nine of these spells appear in all three D&D editions, but NONE of them are part of the Conjuration school more than twice. Fog Cloud (originally Alteration) and Web (originally Evocation) are the only two-fer's, as they are CONJ spells in both 3rd and 5th, but the former of these is a bit of a stretch, since Fog is an effect in Magic that's most associated with Green, but the summoning (i.e. creature focused) element also points to a Blue element. The only one-for-three I think really belongs here is Teleport, which was originally in the Alteration/Transmutation school in 2nd/3rd (see below for details on the name change), and then made the switch to Conjuration in the latest edition. I guess they thought that when one teleports, they effectively summon themselves to a different location, rather than altering their position in space/time? Makes sense to me. I'll be sure to cover the other eight of these spells in the ensuing schools where they're more appropriate.

Conclusion: While all colors use Conjuration for casting Creature cards, Green is clearly at the top, not just because of the abundance of Green creatures, but also for effects that focus on finding creatures and bringing them into play (e.g. Summoner's Pact, Savage Summoning, Lurking Predators).

Divination (information, prediction) is not only the name of a spell in the Divination school in all three D&D editions (I know, very meta), it's ALSO the name of a Magic card... I mean, what more do you need? And that card lets you draw cards, which IS exactly Magic's version of information. Well, it's technically information AND resources; scrying (rule 701.18) is closest to Magic's approximation of pure information, and most of the cards that involve scrying are Blue. Another Blue card that has to do with information is Clairvoyance - the DIV spell version was paired with Clairaudience in 3rd, but in 2nd the aural version was its own spell.

Looking at the other aspect of this school, we see that Foresight is about as perfect a Magic synonym for "predication" as possible, even though the spell only showed up in 3rd and 5th. As a notable exception, we should look at another so called three-for-three spell, Commune with Nature, which is, predictably, a Green Magic card. Green has a lot of "look at the top X cards of your library" type cards (not as many as Blue), but they generally only allow you to pick a creature or a land from them, showcasing a form of selective, nature-based Divination.

Conclusion: Divination is Blue -- it works for the card and the school. Also maybe with a small Green splash.

Enchantment (mind-affecting, compulsion) has by far the largest disconnect between D&D and Magic, since Enchantment is also the name of a card type, which encompasses many various strategies, only some of which are covered in the Enchantment school. In fact, some of the top Enchantment spells correspond to cards that aren't even Enchantments, such as [Ray of] Command. I stretched a little bit with the name because the effects are so similar - gaining control of a creature's actions for a limited time. While Ray of Command is of course a Blue spell, it's notable that this effect shows up a lot more in Red (e.g. Threaten, Act of Treason, Enthralling Victor - Enthrall is also an Enchantment spell in 3rd and 5th). However the more permanent control effects (e.g. Control Magic, Mind Control, which are actually more akin to charm spells in D&D) are mostly Blue.

That takes care of the mind-affecting subtype, but the compulsion aspect also has roots in Blue mana (beyond it being the name of both a card and a 5th edition spell). The only true exact-name card/spell combo to appear as an ENCH spell in all three editions is Sleep, the Magic version of which taps creatures, effectively removing them from usefulness in the most Blue way possible. Going back to Red, the most on-color way to compel creatures out of the way is to make them confused, such as the 2nd edition spell Chaos and the Apocalypse split card with half of the same name. Adding a new color into the mix, Black has an even nastier way to get into the minds of creatures with a spell like [Tasha's] Hideous Laughter, the Magic card version of which is significantly more deadly than the 3rd/5th edition spell.

Hey, remember all those Conjuration spells that became associated with different schools? The first one that's coming back is Bless[ing] (moved to ENCH for 3rd and 5th), which increases the blessed (i.e. enchanted) creature's ability to fight, and thus I don't see how it ever really made sense in CONJ to begin with.

Conclusion: Enchantment is mostly Blue (even though most Enchantment cards are White, but by a slim margin), with a sprinkling of Red and Black in there. In Magic, this combination is also the color identity of the story mode's main antagonist, Nicol Bolas.

Evocation (energy - both damaging and healing) has perhaps the strongest connection between spells and cards, since the strategy of energy manipulation is ubiquitous and effective in both competitive-strategy and role-playing environments. One need only look at the iconic spells/cards Fireball and Lightning Bolt to see both that Evocation is primarily Red, and the immediate link between color and school. But the similarities don't stop there: Fire Storm (i.e. Firestorm) is the only other Red card that's 3-for-3 in terms of editions, but Shatter and Earthquake are classified as Evocation in both 3rd and 5th (they were Alteration in 2nd - see below), and Chain Lightning is 2-for-2 in the same editions, having not been added to the PHB spell list until 3rd.

But while Red has the most cards that are also EVOC spells, the school is actually represented by spells in all five colors of mana. White is easy to explain because all healing spells as a group moved from Conjuration to Evocation in 5th edition, such as Heal - which actually started as Necromancy in 2nd (see below), then later moved to Conjuration in 3rd (see above). There's also the more general mostly-White-aligned practice of life gain (such as in the card Hallow) and some damage buffs that are also associated with the Enchantment school (i.e. Divine Favor), both of which appear as spells in 3rd and 5th. But White also has some holy-themed damage dealing of its own, such as the 3rd edition spell Searing Light (and also generally any D&D spell that deals radiant damage). Across the color wheel, the only Black Evocation spell is Darkness, but just in 3rd and 5th, as it too was listed under Alteration in 2nd.

A particular disconnect between some Red and Green EVOC spells and cards can be chalked up to a quirk in the Magic rules. Three different spells refer to walls - Wall of Fire, Wall of Ice, and Wall of Stone (the latter of which was actually originally in Evocation in 2nd, then jumped to Conjuration in 3rd, then back to Evocation in 5th). Wall is of course a unique Creature types in Magic, and thus subject to the Conjuration school. However, when you put Red and Green together, as in the card Meteor Storm (which I've linked to the spell Meteor Swarm, for obvious reasons), the distinct Evocation feel is on point. The same is true for the Green card Ice Storm, although it's strange to me that both the above cards involving ice aren't identified with Blue mana. Speaking of Blue, the only Evocation cards in that color are Telepathy and Contingency [Plan], although for me both of those spells seem like they should surely be in the Divination school.

Conclusion: Due to its damage dealing element, Evocation is Red first and foremost, then White for healing... and I honestly don't see a great thematic reason to branch too much into Green or Black. Blue is right out.

Illusion (deception, perception) as a school is all about tricking creatures into seeing/believing things that aren't there. On the contrary, the term Illusion in Magic describes a Creature type, one that is generally either hard to block or easy to remove. There are a couple of card/spell combinations that combines these two aspects: the first core set's Phantasmal Force[s] (which appears as a spell in 2nd and then again in 5th, after skipping 3rd for some reason) and the most recent core set's Mirror Image (from all three editions). But if we're looking for cards that more closely mirror Illusion spells, look no further than Invisibility, Misdirection, and Simulacrum, which are Blue, Blue, and Black, respectively. Speaking of Black mana, one card that is sort of an inverse of the spell of the same name is Fear: the spell makes its target afraid, whereas the card makes its target fearsome to creatures trying to block it. Incidentally, the spell Fear is only in the Illusion school in 2nd and 5th, as it took a brief trip to Necromancy (see immediately below) in 3rd. The only White ILLUS spell is Silence, at least two-thirds of the time, as it began its tenure in the Alteration school (see farther below).

Conclusion: Even not taking into account the fact that most Creature cards of the Illusion subtype are Blue, it's pretty clear that messing with perception and reality is a Blue mechanic. Black is a strong secondary color here.

Necromancy (death, rebirth), as with Divination, has a Magic card with exactly the same name, which pretty clearly sums up what color the school is associated with. Furthermore, there are eleven Magic cards with Necromancer in the name, and all but one of them are mono-Black. What's more, is we have one of the most iconic spells AND cards in Animate Dead, from Limited in Magic and in all three D&D editions. Other Black cards that are Necromancy spells in two of the three editions are the more straightforward Raise Dead (this spell is a 3-for-3 overall, but for some reason found itself in the Conjuration school in 3rd), [Ray of] Enfeeblement (which started out in Enchantment in 2nd, but quickly migrated to Necromancy), Contagion, and Vampiric Touch (both of which appeared only in 3rd and 5th).

The one Necromancer-titled card that wasn't mono-Black has White as its second color, which makes sense when we consider the flip side of Necromancy's focus on death. In Magic, this is only seen in the card Resurrection, which represents another one of those Conjuration-in-3rd-edition-only spells. But believe it or not, there's also a Blue and Green element to NECRO. In Blue we have Clone, which is more battlefield-focused than graveyard-focused in Magic. Green actually has two cards that share names with Necromancy spells, but both are only in that school in 2nd edition: Reincarnate (i.e. Reincarnation), which moved to Transmutation in 3rd and 5th, and Regenerate, which has been all over the map, starting in Necromancy (or Necromantic as it was known in 2nd), then moving to Conjuration (the final one of those eight spells I mentioned earlier), and finally settling in Transmutation in 5th. However I'm listing them here, because I feel like they both have a distinct Necromantic feel.

Conclusion: Given all the graveyard/reanimation shenanigans going on in Black, it's clearly the primary color of Necromancy. White is a strong secondary, though, with Green's involvement a little questionable due to the above-mentioned changes in schools.

Transmutation (Alteration, transformation) might not have the widest representation in the color wheel (it's lacking a compelling Black option), but it is for sure the most prolific school in terms of D&D spells. Considering that this school was formerly known as Alteration in 2nd edition, there are 302 combined TRANS and ALT spells, compared to 196 spells on the Conjuration list, the second-most common. (Necromancy is in last place with just 81 spells across all three editions.) The best example of spell(s) to epitomize the top colors of Transmutation is (are) Enlarge/Reduce, which were encompassed by the same spell in 2nd and 5th, but broken up in 3rd. In Magic terms, Enlarge is a Green spell that gives a creature a huge bonus to power and toughness, while the Blue Reduce is actually a class of counterspell (which as we've seen is clearly in Abjuration territory), but as one half of a split card, wordplay was perhaps more important than content. These colors largely make sense: buff cards like Enlarge have been ubiquitous in Green mana since Magic's very beginning - starting with one of the "boon" cycle Giant Growth - and the converse "de-buff" style cards are a staple of Blue - one that comes to mind is the Core Set 2019 card Dwindle.

The only other Green card that corresponds to a Transmutation spell from all three editions is Spider Climb, which is a pretty specific example of changing the properties of something in a beneficial way that's not just "better at fighting." But there are five Blue spells that link up sickeningly well to iconic 3-for-3 Transmutation spells. The first is not a perfect match, at least name-wise, but the effects are exactly the same: the spell Fly and the card Flight. The card Jump is basically a short-term Flight, while it's a bit more literal in D&D. Telekinesis is strictly defensive in Magic, but it has a wider application in D&D. Time Stop is a game-breaking spell in D&D, while the Magic version combos nicely with the upcoming Guilds of Ravnica card Chance for Glory. And perhaps the biggest stretch is from Animate Object(s) to Animate Artifact, but it's basically the same in spirit, right? To further Blue's case, we have two spells from 3rd and 5th only, Gaseous Form and Fabricate. To round things out, Polymorph and the various spells with Polymorph in the name are some of the most powerful spells in all of D&D, while it's considerably more chaotic in Magic.

The Red element of Transmutation is a bit muddied, since while you definitely change the properties of something if you Disintegrate it, and while Pyrotechnics requires a fire to transmute in D&D, those cards in Magic each deal direct damage, which is the foray of Evocation. There's only one White card with a name that corresponds directly to a Transmutation spell: Erase from 2nd and 3rd, which is spot on flavor-wise. But the 3-for-3 spell Blink recalls the mostly White-aligned mechanic known as Flicker, and which appears on the similarly named card Momentary Blink. The only mono-Black Transmutation spell is the 2nd edition version of Darkness (see Illusion, above), which also specified that it covered a 15-foot radius in its full name. But the upcoming set Guilds of Ravnica has a multicolored Black/Green half of a split card called Statue, which is fairly similar to the 2nd and 3rd edition spells of the same name. (The other half of that card, Status, actually corresponds to a 3rd edition Divination spell, but they have wildly different effects, so I'm just going to ignore it for now.)

Conclusion: Green and Blue cards dominate the effects generally seen on Transmutation spells, but there is a good case to be made that all colors make use of some Transmutation magic, with White, Red, and Black bringing up the rear, probably in that order.


Final Tally:

It's no surprise that Blue shows up in the most schools of any color (five by my count) since Blue is the color of most Wizards (in Magic) and Wizards are the class that's most concerned with the schools of magic (in D&D... confusing terminology, I know). White is next, with three schools as either the clear primary or secondary color - Green and Black feature prominently in three schools total, but one school for each of those colors could be described as a splash. And Red only really features prominently in one school (with one more as a splash), but it's such a powerhouse in that one school that it almost makes up for what it lacks in diversity.

Of course, by focusing only on names shared between D&D spells and Magic cards, I'm really only scratching the surface of this subject. I'm sure there are dozens of cards that have similar effects as some spells, but with completely (or just slightly) different names. And of the ones I did cover, I didn't even get into what classes can cast those spells (and at what level) or how many times (and when) those cards were printed in Magic's history. But as far as I'm concerned, I think we've drawn some pretty solid conclusions here today, and this whole exercise will surely make me think of both casting spells and playing cards in a new light.

Curse of Strahd: Baba Lysaga

"Aye, these appear to be... quite old," remarked Khralis as he brandished his holy symbol and examined one of the 12 standing stones that formed a circle in the forbidding marsh, upon which a flock of ravens watched menacingly.

"If that's all that your stonecunning can tell us," said Gallarain snarkily, strumming his lute dissonantly. "I'm starting to question why it's even worth it having a Dwarf in the party."

"Come now, Gallarain," reprimanded Jocelyn sternly, from atop her dire wolf mount. "I know it's disheartening to trudge through a creepy stonehenge swamp, but this is the best lead we have to recover another gem for the Martikov family."

"That's another thing," replied the Half Elf minstrel. "My goal is to gather knowledge and experience from all corners of this world and tell wondrous tales of them. And here I am stuck in a disgusting bog, when the baron of this land, Strahd himself, has extended us an invitation to his castle!"

"We're not ready to face Strahd," pronounced the Paladin grimly, adjusting the sword belt on her saddle. "And I know you were not traveling with us when we defended the Wizard of Wines winery from the marauding druids, but Davian Martikov has been a good friend to us, and now he needs our help."

"He needs help getting his plants to grow grapes. I can cast a SPELL spell to do that!" huffed Gallarain. "We could be making real political influence by meeting with that Vampire."

"For many people in the Kingdom of Barovia, wine is the only solace they have," said Mia the rogue somberly, casting a knowing glance at Khralis. "So if we help provide it, we can use it to win allies, like we did with Kresk... until it got weird..."

"Who's that!? Hiding behind the stone there?" piped Perri Hopter, in a surprisingly aggressive tone for a Gnome Wizard. Mia quickly dove off the road to hide behind a stone of her own, although they were clearly being watched for a while now. "Hail traveler! Make yourself known!"

"My name is Muhryiel!" Came a voice with the familiar Barovian accent. The light of a lantern emerged from behind the far stone, revealing a peasant woman armed with a dagger. She stepped into the open, but kept her voice low. "Are you fhriends of the Mahrtikoffs?"

"Who wants to know?" charged Perri, advancing rather heedlessly. "IF you're even really there... MURIEL-OOF!" The diminutive form of the Gnome collided with the woman's waist as his attempt to walk through same space as the human was occupying failed, with some awkward embarrassment.

"Errr, what I'm sure my friend meant to say is..." interjected Gallarain, lifting Perri off the ground and dusting him off, "Um, we ARE indeed friends of the Martikovs, as my companion was just saying, rather loudly, so, uh, what are you doing here?"

Perri snuck back to where Mia was hiding and whispered, "I could've sworn that lady was an illusion. I didn't smell her at all! And I'm usually pretty good at picking that stuff up, due to my lycanthropy..."

"Maybe it's the smell of the bog that's clogging your senses," offered Mia. "But it looks like this Muriel shares your affliction!"

The previously meek looking peasant woman was in the process of transforming into a fearsome humanoid creature with dark feathered wings and a large beak. The ravens roosting on the stones muttered and flew away.

"You see, I too am a were-raven, just like the Mahrtikov family," Muriel spoke as she dropped her hybrid form and became human again. "We are members of a secret and ancient order..."

"Yes, the Preservers of the Feather!" chimed in Ricktavio, the second member of the party dressed as a Half-Elf bard. "I am familiar with your works."

Jocelyn started and nearly slipped off her mount, as if she forgot all about Ricktavio's presence in the middle-back of the party's marching order. "Well then, Muriel, it's good to know you can be trusted," blurted Jocelyn. "What can you tell us of the gem?"

"Our spies say that ze gem is likely held by the witch Baba Lysaga," provided Muriel. An eerie silence followed.

"And where can we find this... Baba La-ganoush...ka?" asked Gallarain.

"She lives eastvard, thru the forest, but ze ravens dare not fly past ze scarecrows," warned Muriel, denoting a skeletal figure with its limbs in an uncomfortable position.

"We'll be sure to steer clear of them," assured Perri. "And tell me, does this... Baby Lasagna have any magical power over the sense of smell?"

"Baba Lysaga has power over many things. Some legends say that she is older and more evil zhan Strahd himself," declared Muriel. "And otherz say zhat she flies around in a giant skull."

"I don't know which of these rumors is harder to believe, but I'm game to find out!" exclaimed Gallarain, joyously. "This sounds like the makings of a marvelous story! I wonder if this witch's hut in the woods will be as delicious as the one from the fairytale I overheard during my travels. Come, fellows!" and with that the Half-Elf rushed off to the east.

"Gallarain, wait, we should formulate a plan and..." cried Jocelyn frustratedly. "In the name of the Morning Lord," she muttered to herself, "what do you care about telling stories anyway, you're a warlock!" And she turned and spurred her wolf after him.

===

"So I think this... Balenciaga is at home," proclaimed Mia as she crept back to the party from her hiding place. "There is in fact a giant hollowed out skull by the front door, so she must not be traveling. There are also two cages full of trapped ravens, who could..."

"Ohmygosh, the skull thing is REAL!?" shouted Gallarain as he bounded out of the underbrush. "THIS I gotta see!"

"Hey, wait up, I got dibs on the skull!" countered Perri, as he took off at a somewhat slower pace.

"No, you two, wait..." warned Mia, but it was too late. A cacophony of the squawking and fluttering of ravens blasted into the clearing along with the two adventurers, who for the first time beheld the hut of Baba Lysaga. It was a modest enough dwelling, 15 feet square, with only one door, but it looked very imposing because it was built into the top of a gigantic tree stump that sat human-height above the surface of the swamp. From the trunk extended a gnarled and sturdy root system, some branches running several dozen feet away from the hut.

As soon as the commotion started, a pale green light started shining from the open doorway of the hut. "Who dares visit the hut of Baba Lysaga?" asked a voice from within, which, even though it sounded to the travelers like a faint whisper, somehow carried over the din of the excited ravens.

Gallarain turned his attention from the skull and bowed low. "It is I, Gallarain Cross, and I only wish to behold your legendary countenance, and tell of it in song!"

"Hmm, no on/off switch on this thing..." remarked Perri as he began inspecting the skull. "And I'm reasonably sure it used to belong to a Giant... Doesn't smell like a Giant, though..."

Jocelyn on her wolf and the rest of the adventurers crashed through the bushes; all except Mia, who pulled out a hand crossbow and took a sniping position behind one of the roots. "You have taken something that does not belong to you, witch," cried Jocelyn, "and we are taking it back!"

"Ohhh, you mean my pretty gem," the witch's voice cackled. "No, I think I will keep it. I can make better use of it than those rats with wings!"

"They're called RAVENS," shouted Jocelyn indignantly. "Ari, forward!" At the command, Jocelyn's wolf began striding forward as Jocelyn drew her sword.

"Or perhaps you would like to see the baby?" cooed Baba Lysaga, stepping aside to reveal a delicate crib containing an angelic child.

"In the name o' Helm!" cried Khralis, darting towards the door. "Did'ya steal tha' CHILD too?"

"No! The child is my own!" shrieked the witch, brandishing her staff defensively. "His name is Strahd, and he will one day rule over all this land!"

"So, wait," said Perri aside to Ricktavio, both leaning against the Giant skull outside. "Did we go back in time and now we can bump off baby Strahd and change the timeline?!"

"You fiend!" shouted Khralis angrily. "Ye know damn well tha' Strahd is the baron NOW! So tha' must be someone else's innocent baby!"

Using his thick frame, the Dwarf leapt off a low root and bodied the witch out of the way, lunging for the baby. But when his hands entered the crib, they swiped through nothing but empty air.

"Ach, it's an illsuion!" yelled Khralis over his shoulder. "There is no baby!"

"How... DARE YOU try to hurt Strahd!" bellowed Baba Lysaga, as a previously unseen swarm of insects crawled out of her ragged cloak. "But you cannot touch my child, no, no, no, I will be a better mother to him than [INSERT NAME OF REAL MOTHER OF STRAHD HERE]! I was the one who gave him his power, and he made the land of Barovia what it is today!"

"Barovia is a horrible, gloomy, scary, dangerous, evil place..." Jocelyn almost chanted as Ari trotted forward, picking up speed. "People are taken here against their will, and they're not allowed to leave..." Jocelyn's sword began to glow with holy light, before which even the darkness of Baba Lysaga seemed to flee. "And the undead abomination Strahd uses evil magic to beguile innocent people..."

Ari sprang forward, then suddenly planted her front paws. Jocelyn was ready for the move, vaulting off her wolf's back, sailing clean over Khralis's low stature.

"And you..." screamed Jocelyn as her sword burst into flame, "you are a TERRIBLE MOTHER!"

===

Jocelyn's sword hit home, eliciting a shriek from Baba Lysaga. Blood and mana and the exploded corpses of bugs flew across the room, as the witch's tattered robes caught fire. But undisturbed by the flames, she began to laugh, pointed one hand into a finger, and shook it at the young paladin.

"You have some fire within you, girl," taunted Baba, "but you'll soon feel the icy Finger of Death upon you!"

The witch's finger emitted a strong wave of negative energy that sent Jocelyn down to one knee as she tried to resist the necrotic energy of the spell. But as Baba advanced threateningly with her staff raised, angelic spirits of light emerged from Khralis's outstretched holy symbol. The left gauntlets of the spirits bore the likeness of a staring eye, the symbol of the god Helm, and they were upraised, ready to strike down on the witch.

Meanwhile, on the outside of the hut, Mia sprang into action as soon as Jocelyn attacked. Leaping from her hiding place, the rogue acrobatically climbed up onto the closest cage filled with ravens, which was suspended from the eaves of the house.

"If you're affiliated with this feather order," Mia mused through the squawking, as she attempted to pick the lock, "you might be able to help us in the fight."

But suddenly an earth-jolting tremor caused Mia to drop her thieves' tools to the forest floor, as the roots of the giant tree stump began to come alive. One root snaked up and latched on to the cage on the opposite side of Mia, and slammed the iron structure into the side of the hut. With an uncanny dodge, Mia was just barely able to avoid being squashed flat, and was still somehow hanging onto the cage despite her injuries.

"Get inside the house!" screamed Ricktavio, as Jocelyn's wolfen companion Ari was crushed by another large root. "It's the only way to get cover from that damn tree!"

"Screw the tree!" defied Perri, hopping up into the doorway. "The roots aren't made of silver, and I'm a werewolf, so they can't touch me. But this old hag inside is gonna run in Fear!"

Perri snarled and growled, but his form remained that of a diminutive gnome, rather than the toothed and clawed monstrosity he was expecting to transform into. The confusion distracted Perri from the spell he was about to cast, and a third giant root smashed into the Gnome's chest, sending him flying back towards the skull.

"Perri, your courage far outreaches your stature, my friend," complimented Ricktavio as he reached out his hand to help the gnome to his feet. Upon contact, their hands begin to glow. "You deserve as much protection against death as I can give you." And upon completing the spell, the Half Elf turned and ran towards the house, towards the sound of a sudden loud ringing noise.

"No one at home is going to believe THIS story," remarked Gallarain as he tossed away a spent chip of mica from the spell he just cast, which originated inside the hut and caught Baba full in the face. But as the witch opened her mouth to scream, instead they heard a mystic incantation, and she disappeared, leaving in her space a swarm of disgusting insects.

"Uh, guys?" cried Perri, as the skull he was leaning on slowly started to rise off the ground, as Baba Lysaga's form appeared inside. "We got a flying witch here!"

"NOW will you get inside the house, Perri?" shouted Ricktavio as he hopped up onto the doorway.

"I'm workin' on it, Ricky," responded Perri as he chugged as fast as his little Gnome legs would carry him.

===

Looking back to where the witch was standing inside the hut, Jocelyn noticed that Gallarain's shattering blast had completely broken away the floorboards, revealing a small alcove containing a green glowing gem.

"Khralis, remember when we fought the treant and recovered the first gem for the Martikov's?" asked Jocelyn.

"Like it wa' yesterdee," answered the Dwarf.

"It was yesterday," reminded Jocelyn, "And it had a similar gem inside it, that was presumably giving it power. We need to get this... EUGH!!!'

As the paladin reached her hand towards the stone, the wood splinters of the floorboards turned into animated sharp snapping teeth. Jocelyn was just able to interpose her shield between herself and her unnatural attacker, but then she got an idea.

"Khralis, I'm going to pry this open!" shouted Jocelyn, unbuckling her shield. "Try to reach the gem inside!"

"Uh, no thank ye', missy," replied Khralis timidly. "I dinnae have the best... reaction time?"

"Never mind, Khralis, I've got just the thing," exclaimed Mia as she flipped from the cage outside through the doorjamb. With an incantation and a flick of the wrist, Mia produced a floating spectral hand in the air above her, which then promptly vanished. Moments later, the green gem appeared to lift gently out of its toothy alcove, right past Jocelyn's shield, and into the outstretched palm of the arcane trickster.

But to everyone's surprise, the roots did not stop moving. Instead, the ground rumbled louder than before, as the roots began tearing at the roof of the house, trying to get at the intruders who disturbed the gem. And in that moment, with a shriek from Baba Lysaga, who now floated 30 feet in the air, a cloud of yellow-green fog emanated from the doorway to the hut.

The noses and mouths of our heroes, every one of whom was now seeking shelter inside, were permeated with the poison gas, and the effect was devastating.

"SCREW THIS!" screamed Perri, as he coughed and waved his hands in front of his face and stumbled outside. "I may not have my enhanced smell..." the wizard muttered as he focused his senses. "But I can still hear your stupid cackling..."

With a jerk of his head, Perri pointed his finger above him in the air and a bright streak shot from it through the fog. Perri couldn't see see where it ended up, but he could feel the heat from the low roar of flame that slowly blossomed into an explosion. No one in the house could see the result of the Fireball, but they heard the sound of Baba Lysaga's laughing get replaced by the sizzling of burning flesh. And then as the gas cleared, they saw the now-mundane giant skull slowly sink down to the floor.

===

http://imgur.com/gallery/LPmRv

But unfortunately for Perri, the clearing of the gas meant that he was squarely in the sights (of sorts) of the three giant tree roots, which turned their attention from the hut. The Gnome smiled grimly as one root swung laterally and smashed him across the face. Perri just spit out some blood and his grin widened.

The second root swung straight down and looked as thought it would flatten Perri completely. But as it connected, a low rumbling sound emerged, and Ricktavio stumbled with the activation of his Death Ward.

"Is that all ya got?" smirked Perri.

The third root caught him clean under the chin and sent him flying off the porch of the house. From the house it was clear to see that the Gnome was still breathing, but roots showed no signs of stopping.

"Perri!" screamed Khralis, his healer instincts activating. "I'm comin' for ya!" The Dwarf leapt out of the house, but with the rumbling of the terrain, he stumbled before he could reach his companion. Then in a stunning display of selflessness, threw himself on the ground. "Take me instead, ya nasty tree!" shouted Khralis threateningly.

"What are you doing!?" yelled Ricktavio helplessly. Well, not exactly helplessly, as he also held out a small silver mirror and warded Perri's unconscious form from attack.

But the abjuration magic was not enough for the roots, which slammed into Perri with one massive hit, and extinguished the Gnome's life. Khralis barely had time to scream in horror as he was soon after knocked unconscious by a gigantic root of his own.

===

"Ugh, Dwarves make such bothersome travel companions," grumbled Gallarain as he sprung out of the house and nimbly dragged his companion back into the house. "Jocelyn, can you help him?"

Dropping her shield that she had just pulled loose from the floor-teeth, Jocelyn laid her hands on the Dwarf and healed him with her blessed touch. Khralis's eyes sprung open and he gasped for breath.

"DIAMONDS!" yelled Khralis hoarsely. "We've got ta find some diamonds! Where d'ye think the witch would hide her valuables!?"

"Khralis, this is hardly the time to look for loot!" screamed Gallarain incredulously, as the roots of the tree turned their attention back to the hut.

"Ye dinnae understand!" yelled Khrais as he rummaged through the witch's belongings. "I was visited by Helm in a dream lass' night -- it was when ye' all thought I was jus' oot behind the house drinkin' -- and he taught me a new spell to Revivify someone who's naught been dead but a minute -- but it needs lotsa diamonds to cast it!"

"And you really think there will be diamonds in this gods forsaken hut of a..." admonished Gallarain, but just then Khralis's eye fell on an ornate chest in the corner of the hut. "Uh, Khralis, maybe you should put that down, you don't know what..."

But as the overeager Dwarf heedlessly opened the lid, a loud explosion rang through the hut. Jocelyn was knocked back and immediately lost consciousness. And what's more, three disembodied hands leapt out of the chest and latched themselves onto Ricktavio.

Undeterred, Khralis crawled on his hands and knees towards the chest and started rummaging through its contents.

"Gold, nah. Scrolls, nah. Shiny black stone, could be useful later," the cleric remarked as he tossed the items out onto the floor. Then he let out a gasp. "EUREKA! I found it! Two, beautiful, shiny diamonds!"

But Khralis's celebration was cut short as a root tore through the roof of the hut. A light of madness sparkled in Ricktavio's eyes as he struggled against the mummified hands and lunged for Mia.

"The gem! We have to get it out! It's trying to..." but a hand clasped itself over the Half Elf's mouth and his eyes rolled back into his head as he fell to the floor.

"Wha' d'you suppose he was on aboot?" asked Khralis as he polished off one of his newly acquired diamonds and prepared to venture out to revive Perri.

"No, Khralis, stay here," proposed Mia, tucking the gem away in her belt pouch. "I'll drag him in for you."

But no sooner had Mia leapt outside and the gem passed the threshold of the door, the tree stump shuddered and the menacing roots all fell silent.

"Who knew, I guess we just had to take the gem outside the house," exclaimed Mia after she got her bearings. "Khralis, it's safe! Get out here and cast that fancy new spell of yours!"

Khralis peeked his head out the doorway to make sure the coast was clear, as Gallarain and Mia went about tending their other wounded party members. Khralis held aloft his diamond, which vanished in a puff of magical smoke, consumed by the powerful spell. With a small gasp, Perri returned to life, his eyes wild as if he had just awoken from some unremembered nightmare. He was weak and barely alive, but ready to continue the fight against Strahd.