Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry is a 60-page sourcebook for Original Dungeons & Dragons released in May 1976. The work was most notable for introducing demons, druids, artifacts, and psionics into D&D.

Official synopsis[]

The book you now hold in your hand represents new dimensions to an already fascinating game system. This is the third supplement to DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, and was produced as a result of an ever increasing demand for new material.

This book also represents a new trend in the fine art of Dungeon Mastering. As originally conceived, D&D was limited in scope only by the imagination and devotion of Dungeon Masters everywhere. The supplements have fulfilled the need for fresh ideas and additional stimulation. But somewhere along the line, D&D lost some of its flavor, and began to become predictable. This came about as a result of the proliferation of rule sets; while this was great for us as a company, it was tough on the DM. When all the players had all of the rules in front of them, it became next to impossible to beguile them into danger or mischief.

The new concept pioneered within these pages should go a long way towards putting back in some of the mystery, uncertainty and danger that make D&D the un-paralleled challenge it was meant to be. Legend Lore once again becomes the invaluable spell it was meant to be. No more will some foolhardy adventurer run down into a dungeon, find something and immediately know how it works, or even what it does, By the same token, no longer will players be able to send some unfortunate hireling to an early demise by forcing him to experiment on his master's goodies.

The introduction of psionic combat is bound to enliven games grown stagnant. It opens up untold possibilities for both the players and the DM, and in so doing recognizes one of the favorite topics of science fiction and fantasy writers: the unknown powers of the mind.

As with the two previous supplements, the material herein contained follows the format of the original three booklets that comprise D&D. Corrections and additions are noted, so that it can all be integrated into the original with a minimum of bother.

As you will note on the title page, this supplement had many contributors. Such is the nature of the beast. D&D was meant to be a free-wheeling game, only loosely bound by the parameters of the rules. We feel that ELDRITCH WIZARDRY goes a long way toward fulfilling the original premise of danger, excitement, and uncertainty. May you always make your saving throw.

Content[]

Eldritch Wizardry follows the format of the previous two supplements, presenting new D&D material divided into three chapters named after the Original D&D booklets of Men & Magic, Monsters & Treasure, and Underworld & Wilderness Adventures.

The first chapter introduces psionics, including psionic combat modes and psionic abilities (powers); the druid as a player character class, as a cleric subclass; dexterity adjustments for surprise, armor, and spellcasting; and new spells for druids: animal summoning I, animal summoning II, animal summoning III, animate rock, anti-animal shell, anti-plant shell, call lightning, commune with nature, conjure earth elemental, conjure fire elemental, control temperature, 10' radius, control wins, creeping doom, detect magic, detect snares & pits, faerie fire, fire storm, hallucinatory forest, heat metal, hold animal, hold plant, locate animals, locate plants, obscurement, pass plant, plant door, predict weather, produce fire, produce flame, protection from lightning, protection from fire, purify water, transmute metal to wood, transport via plants, turn wood, warp wood, and weather summoning.

Monsters & Treasures [sic] introduces several monsters, mainly demons and psionics. It includes demons (Type I, Type II, Type III, succubus, Type V, Type VI, Orcus, and Demogorgon), and the couatl, ki-rin, shedu, intellect devourer, mind flayer, su-monster, brain mole, cerebral parasite, and thought eater. Psionic additions are made for various existing monsters.

The chapter also introduces several artifacts, many of which would become iconic: the Invulnerable Coat of Arn (named for Dave Arneson), the Mace of Cuthbert, the Sword of Kas (named for Tim Kask), the Axe of the Dwarvish Lords, the Wand of Orcus, the Rod of Seven Parts, the Codex of the Infinite Planes, the Hand and Eye of Vecna (named for author Jack Vance), Baba Yaga's Hut, the Iron Flask of Tuerny the Merciless, Queen Ehlissa's Marvelous Nightingale, the Machine of Lum the Mad, the Mighty Servant of Leuk-O (named for Luke Gygax), the Jacinth of Inestimable Beauty, the Crystal of the Ebon Flame, Heward's Mystical Organ (named for Hugh Gygax), the Horn of Change, the Ring of Gax (named for Gary Gygax), the Crown, Orb, and Scepter of Law, Neutrality andd Chaos; the Throne of the Gods, and the Orbs of Dragonkind. Artifacts in this book have randomly-chosen abilities and drawbacks.

The Underworld and Wilderness Adventures chapter presents random encounter tables.

Development and release[]

Development[]

The book was written by Gary Gygax and Brian Blume. Credited with special thanks are Steve Marsh, Dennis Sustare, Jim Ward and Tim Kask. A great deal of work was done co-operatively at TSR at this time, meaning that the work had influences from a variety of contributors.^[2] Mike Carr also had some input.^[2]

Gary Gygax was responsible for the inclusion of demons and their hierarchy, with input by Blume and Kask. They were intended as an extra-challenging enemy. Several artifacts were also Gygax's invention: the Hand and Eye of Vecna, named for author Jack Vance, of whom Gygax was a fan; the Sword of Kas; Tuerny's flask, an item from his campaign; Queen Ehlissa's Nightingale, for an antique owned a relative; the Mighty Servant of Leuk-O, an item given to Gygax's son Luke; Heward's organ, inspired by scary movies; and the Ring of Gax. The Invulnerable Coat of Arn was named for Dave Arneson, who owned one of the first ever suits of magic armor, which was exceptionally powerful in those days. Blume also likely had input on artifacts.^[2]

Steve Marsh claims that he gave psionics to dwarves, but not elves, because he was a fan of dwarves. The dwarves' +2 bonus to saving throws against magic in the Expert Set (B/X) (1981) is for the same reason.^[3]

Dennis Sustare created the druid, originally for his home game, inspired by the inclusion of the new thief class in Supplement I: Greyhawk (1975). After playtesting and revisions, Gary Gygax received a copy, and Tim Kask encouraged its inclusion in Eldritch Wizardry.^[4] Sustare recalls that further revision was done after her submitted it, although Kask would recall that Sustare's work was of such high quality that almost no revision was necessary.^[2]

Tim Kask was responsible for editing, art direction, layout, and design.^[5] Kask's input on the work was so significant that Steve Marsh would later describe it as "the Tim Kask supplement."^[6]

Kask synthesized the psionics rules from a collection of papers by various authors, possibly including Steve Marsh and Brian Blume. Psionics were originally developed as a way to allow player characters to resist powerful psionic creatures like mind flayers. One inspiration was the Doctor Strange comics, of which Kask and Gygax were fans.^[7][8]

The experimental movement phase system was devised jointly by Kask and Gygax.^[9] Reasons for its inclusion were to reward high Dexterity and codify haste and slow effects, although Kask would later feel it was too complicated.^[10]

The original cover art was provided by Deborah Larson. The inclusion of nudity was controversial, with Kask later commenting that it "nearly killed the brand." However, Kask ultimately decided that any publicity was good publicity.^[11]

Interior art was provided by Dave Sutherland, Tracy Lesch and Gary Kwapisz.

Release[]

Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry was released by TSR on May 1, 1976^[1] for $5.00 US including postage.^[1]

Nine printings were made in all, the last dated November 1979. The first printing was missing the fragment attributed to Tzoonk. The monster on page 3 is titled "Balrog"; from the fifth printing onward, the name is changed to avoid references to Tolkien.^[12]

On February 16, 2016, it was re-released in digital format. It is currently available on DriveThruRPG and Dungeon Masters Guild for $4.99.

Reception and influence[]

Critical reception[]

In 2018, Eldritch Wizardry editor Tim Kask criticized his own psionics system as too complicated and prone to min-maxing.^[13]

As of 2023, Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry reached the rank of Platinum seller on DriveThruRPG.

Influence on other works[]

Several of the elements introduced in Eldritch Wizardry went on to become significant elements of the D&D canon, with some inspiring entire sourcebooks in their own right. Most notably:

• The mind flayer inspired Monstrous Arcana: The Illithiad (1998), followed by the adventure trilogy A Darkness Gathering (1998), Masters of Eternal Night (1998), and Dawn of the Overmind (1998), as well as forming the basis of hit game Baldur's Gate 3
• The Axe of the Dwarvish Lords inspired Axe of the Dwarvish Lords (2e) (1999)
• The Rod of Seven Parts inspired The Rod of Seven Parts (1996)
• The Hand and Eye of Vecna inspired the character of Vecna, leading to WGA4 Vecna Lives! (1990), Vecna Reborn (1998), Die Vecna Die! (2000), and Vecna: Eve of Ruin (2024)
• The Baba Yaga's Hut inspired S5 The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga (1995)
• Psionics were detailed in PHBR5 The Complete Psionics Handbook (1991), Psionics Handbook (2001), Expanded Psionics Handbook (2004), Complete Psionic (2006), Psionic Power (2010), among others
• Artifacts in general inspired Book of Artifacts (1993)
• The druid became a D&D core class, leading to PHBR13 The Complete Druid's Handbook (1994)
• Demons were detailed in Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss (2006)

External links[]

• A private chat for proboarders - Tim Kask, Oct 4, 2017
• OD&D Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry on DriveThruRPG
• OD&D Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry on Dungeon Masters Guild

References[]