Posted by stewart on February 04, 1998 at 18:01:22:
In Reply to: Re: IOUN Stones posted by Arc on June 10, 1997 at 11:32:07:
: : : >Peter R Booth posted the following article in the Vance Info BBS
: : : >IOUN stones feature in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons books, circa 1977....
: : .... then
: : : I have always looked at IOUN-stones as a wonderful, sheer mystery, in name as well as in property, and believe that is what Mr. Vance intended when he named them. The magicians never use them for anything. They just covet them, and sometimes steal them from each other.
: :
: : I used to play AD&D some time ago, and I recall that the Ioun stones in the game possessed varying magical properties : typical examples included the augmentation of personal attributes, the ability to absorb spells, being able to breath underwater, and the like.
: : As many of you already know, much of Vance's ideas were appropiated into the AD&D game : the only one that springs to mind now is the spell 'Forlorn Encystment' which became in the game 'Imprisonment'
: : The only IOUN stone property I recall being displayed was in 'Morreion'; didn't the eponymous mage store parts of his personality in the stones?
: : Best Regards,
: : Mick
: Ioun stones all have certain properties, under AD&D. The color determines the property. Soem include intelligence, dexterity, etc. There was one for each attribute, and a few that store spells. Very useful item in AD&D, though rarely used in home campaigns.