Cup of Crimson Wonder

I got into Dungeons & Dragons in the late 70s at college. At that time, I was listening to a lot of progressive rock, which was a broad category which included bands like Yes, ELP, Pink Floyd, and in particular Jethro Tull. Tull had done albums like Aqualung, Warchild, Minstrel in the Gallery, and Thick as a Brick (one sone over two sides of an LP - you really should take the time to give it a listen). And in 1977 they released Songs from the Wood, which was the first of a series of "Folk Rock" albums. And I listened to it a lot, and it influenced my some of my writing, world-building, and game design.

And one of the songs was "Cup of Wonder", which leaned heavy on medieval mystical themes with a lot of synthesizer. And as one does, I wrote up the cup described of the song as a D&D magical item. 

(Now, looking back at the song, there was a LOT I missed at the time - namely, that the song was very much a "Hey, let's go out into the wheatfield and have sex" sort of song, and that a lot of the mystic references had earthier meanings and feminine euphemisms. )

But anyway,

I wrote the first cup description in 1977 in the wake of the album's release, but never really found the place to unleash it on my players. I considered it as a "Miscellaneous Magic" item, which was sort of a catch-all category for things that didn't really fit in one of the other columns. Now, by 1976 Eldritch Wizardry had come out and we had already started to talk about Artifacts and Relics as vastly powerful magic items with powers and malevolent effects unknown to the players. Below, I've revised my notes to fit the formatting and font of the original little brown box books of original D&D:

MISCELLANEOUS MAGIC

Cup of Wonders: This golden chalice can create a Healing potion that can repair one six-sided die, plus one, (2-7) points of damage, once per day. Once per week it can create a draught that will Neutralize Poison. The draughts must be imbibed directly from the cup to be effective.

 

It was a pretty straight-forward description of the item. Given the brutal nature of early D&D (your party's cleric did not even get a Cure Light Wounds spell until 2nd level), this was a suitable item to help the group survive. I put it in my random magic tables, but I never really found the opportunity to put into my player's hands. 

A few years later, I found my original notes, and upgraded the Cup of Wonders to full artifact status. Both Eldritch Wizardry and the 1st Edition AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide left the abilities lines blank to let the DM fill in what he could, choosing from a master list, but I made those choices for my versions of the items. Here's what I ended up with: 

TABLE (III.E3) SPECIAL

Cup of Crimson Wonder: This ornate chalice of beaten red-gold with silver filigree of forest creatures was brought from the Isles of the Furthest West by the Green Man as a gift to the Great Druid at the founding of his order. The Green Man often rescinds this gift for his personal use, and abandons it when he has completed his tasks. Upon speaking the Green Man’s name, the cup fills with blood, which then grants the positive effects of this item. In the hands of the Great Druid or one of the three Archdruids the cup may cast Resurrection once per day without having to rest and are immune to the Cup’s major and minor malevolent effects. Druid initiates of lower levels and non-druids may use the following powers/effects when possessing the cup:

4 × I: Create food and water – 1 time/day  

 Cure light wounds – 7 times/week  

 Know alignment when held and ordered – 1 time/day  

 Possessor immune to disease

2 × II: Heal – 1 time/day  

  Regenerate 2 h.p./turn (but not if killed)

2 × III: Possessor’s hair turns white  

   Saving throws versus magic are at -1

1 × IV: User takes double damage from steel and iron weapons.

1 × IV: Summon 1 of each type of elemental, 16 hit dice each, no need for control – 1 time/week 

There is a lot more going on here than in the first draft, in that I'm adding a lot of abilities and keying in on giving the druids something unique and cool as well. There's more background color for the AD&D versions, something that will increase as we go along, and is sort of a "shadow worldbuilding" in that it hints at larger things with the campaign world. I kept to the list provided at the time, with the exception of the Major Malevolent Effect (Table IV), which I felt was to overpowering, but instead grabbed something that would fit with its Druidic attempt.

Looking through the changes from the original D&D magic item to a 1st Edition AD&D artifact, I'm kind of curious to see how the design would change, and weather it would come closer to the original song or stray off into the fields and forest on its own. I'll take a look at later editions, and if it works out, I'll post here. Otherwise...

More later,