19 September 2009
Today’s Tabbloid
PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net
ROGUE FEED
OSRIC Supplemental: Open Call
for Contributors
SEP 18, 2009 08:03A.M.
Kellri posted the following over at his blog:
Preliminary work is getting under way on the Knights &
Knaves Alehouse for a new book tentatively entitled the
OSRIC Supplemental. Discussion right now is centered on
what material will & should be covered - including wilderness
travel & hazards, planar cosmology, magic item & spell
creation, mass combat, strongholds, aerial combat, sample
dungeon maps and more.
In keeping with the spirit of OSRIC, this will be entirely an
open collaborative project by and for fans of Gygaxian 1e
AD&D. If you’ve always wanted to write for your favorite
game, have a talent for creating old school maps and artwork,
or just want to give us your two cents worth now is your
chance. Come on over and dive in!
I’m tempted to submit something to this myself, but we’ll see if time
allows it. Regardless, it sounds like a very exciting project and I’ll
certainly be paying close attention to it, especially with Kellri acting as
compiler and editor. His Old School Encounters Reference is a work of
genius and one of the best things ever to come out of the old school
renaissance. I have little doubt that OSRIC Supplemental (or whatever it
winds up being called) will be every bit as excellent.
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ROGUE FEED
Interview: Ed Greenwood (Part
II)
SEP 17, 2009 11:01P.M.
7. Does that mean then that your own Realms campaign was
very “light” on the use of rules of any sort? I ask because I’m
fascinated by the different ways gamers incorporate random
elements into their games — things beyond the ability of either
the players or referee to anticipate beforehand.
Yes, it was rules-light from the viewpoint of, say, someone who plays
D&D tournaments at GenCon, and expects everything to proceed “by the
book.” (And I speak as the guy who won the Best Player award in the
AD&D Open at GenCon in 1984, which won me a nice trophy that came
wrapped in . . . yup, diapers.)
A DM’s job is to entertain their players (because the play sessions are
eating time out of their lives), and the DM should tailor style of play and
content (HOW the game is played, from casual chatter or football-
quarterbacking to ham acting with funny voices and Shakespearean
vocabulary or even costumes, and WHAT happens: hack and slash or
intrigue and solving mysteries, urban or wilderness, subterranean or
undersea, pirates or paladins, etc.).
Well, MY players loved to roleplay (acting), and so do I, so I played the
NPCs to the hilt, and prepared for hours beforehand and afterwards,
knowing my players wanted to find out which NPC was related to which
other NPC, what scandals had gone on in this village thirty years back,
and so on and on and on . . . so I gave it to them. They always wanted to
TALK to everyone, and there were nights (six or seven hours of play, with
a tea-and-chips-and-chip-dip break in the middle) when no player
character even drew a weapon; it was ALL intrigue and roleplaying
conversations, confrontations, investigations, trade dickering, and so on.
Hack and slash seldom interested us (though when battle did come, all
the frustrations were let loose!), and as DM I wasn’t trying to “win” any
fights against PCs, so I tended to always give them initiative unless they
walked into a trap or bowmen with arrows ready at, say, a city gate, but
during battle I kept the pace up by demanding swift answers (like a
rapid-fire auctioneer) to “What’re you doing this round? Ten-nine-eight-
seven-six . . .” and they’d better blurt out something, or I’d move on. So it
was almost all acting, and almost no rules. Which was great for
newcomers to the game enjoying the play sessions; they were never
intimidated by the thick rulebooks. If someone jumped in to defend
themselves with a rule, I automatically “gave in,” and so was never seen
as an adversarial DM, so we settled into a playing style that suited us.
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net
Not for everyone, but it’s what OUR group collectively wanted. Players
could always DEMAND we apply rules in a particular combat or
encounter or situation, and I would comply, but we tended to find doing
so ate up so much time that we could have more fun “ham acting” in, that
we kept such occurrences very rare and for very important situations.
8. It’s interesting that your home games are so rules light
given the number of spells, magic items, monsters, and
character classes you’ve designed over the years. Do you see
any contradiction in this?
No. Few “newer” gamers realize how things were in the early D&D
hobby; how EVERYONE read DRAGON and memorized or near-
memorized every word of most articles therein, plus every word of the
published rulebooks.
I wanted to encourage good roleplaying by having players whose
characters were faced with a spherical monster with eyestalks NOT say,
“well, it’s either a beholder or a gas spore, so . . .” and NOT pick up a
horn in a dungeon treasure hoard and say, “Horn of bubbles or Horn of
Valhalla?” Or “That enemy wizard just cast a fireball, so he’s gotta be X
level or higher! Right, we’ll—“
Likewise, this NPC stranger your character is facing could have all sorts
of abilities and powers your PC has never seen before (because, yes,
players back them memorized things right down to monk and bard level
abilities, too, so they could right away shout “Aha! This guy’s a monk of
X level!”).
One of the best ways of doing this was to increase the number of look-
alikes and magic item and spell choices so NO ONE could keep track of
them all. This dumped players out of min-maxing, using-their-
omniscient-rules-knowledge mode back into playing their character in
the world, as their characters face the unknown. Makes the game more
gripping, forces better roleplaying, and makes it all more fun for those
already in the habit of roleplaying.
As I said earlier, I didn’t think doing this was quite “fair” to my players
unless my creations (monsters, magic items, or spells) had been
published (vetted by other designers AND giving the players a chance of
having read them), so I sent them off to DRAGON. I seemed to have a
knack for crafting these things, so they wanted more. LOTS more. So I
wrote more. :}
It was all great fun, I was having a ball (and so just kept going), and from
time to time editors were giving me assignments to write more of this or
that (they still are; I just sent off a batch of new monsters yesterday).
As for the home campaign - - well, a DM’s job is to entertain his/her
players, and my players loved detail, really immersing themselves in the
Realms, and all the plots and subplots adventurers will uncover if they
settle into a large town, wayside dale on a major trade route, or city. So
that’s what our play sessions were filled with, and why it’s really hard to
try to convey the “feel” of the “home” Realms campaign to other gamers -
- unless they “sit in” with my original players.
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19 September 2009
I make no apologies at all for the layer upon layer of exhaustive detailed
Realmslore (which I still provide in answer to gamer queries in my
thread in the Chamber of Sages at forum.candlekeep.com) that’s built up
in over thirty years of play, because that’s what my players wanted.
Others can take or leave just as much of it as they want; I’ve always
thought that if you’re paying me or any other freelancer for providing
something you as DM could do for yourself, given time, that we should
give you MORE than you need, so you get your money’s worth and more.
If we go too far, ignore what doesn’t suit you - - but we never want to
shortchange you.
9. How much of the material you produced in Dragon had its
origin in your personal campaign? I ask because, as a younger
man, I always appreciated the “lived in” feeling that articles
like “Pages from the Mages,” “Seven Swords,” and “Six Very
Special Shields” evoked.
My “home” Realms campaign generated a lot of what became articles,
because I had SUPERB roleplayers who always wanted to find out more
about the world around their characters (so when playing the characters,
they frequently talked to old folks or librarians or sages to find out old
lore, and even asked questions like detectives to try to piece together “the
truth” when they thought clergies, rulers, or guilds weren’t telling them
what was actually happened), and because ethically I felt it was only fair
to hit my players with new monsters, spells, magic items, poisons, and so
on AFTER I’d published them in DRAGON. For one thing, EVERYONE
who played D&D read or tried to read DRAGON in those days (even if
only by standing in a hobby shop, paging through issues), so whatever a
player could remember of what they’d read helped to simulate what their
character “might have heard” in life, and so “felt fairer” to me (and of
course the editors had examined my writing and could “fix” anything way
out of balance or misworded; I don’t recall them ever doing so, but I felt
they had the “stamp of approval.” The Featured Creature (later Dragon’s
Bestiary) columns even carried a little note at the bottom saying the
monsters published in them were “as official” as anything in the
rulebooks, so I got to contribute to the game!
By the way, the titles of almost all DRAGON articles were chosen by the
editors, not article writers.
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net
ROGUE FEED
Ken St Andre Interview
SEP 17, 2009 05:54P.M.
My latest column for “Days of High Adventure” in The Escapist is an
interview with Tunnels & Trolls creator, Ken St Andre. Ken answers
some questions about the origins of T&T, game design, and related
topics. It’s one of my better interviews, I think, and there’s more of it to
come, since Ken provided — and is still providing — me with more
material than I could use for the article. Expect to see more here at
Grognardia in the days to come.
ROGUE FEED
Interview: Ed Greenwood (Part
I)
SEP 17, 2009 06:35A.M.
As I mentioned in my retrospective yesterday, I’ve been a fan of Ed
Greenwood for a long time, having enjoyed his many articles in the pages
of Dragon. It was here that I first heard of the Forgotten Realms, long
before anyone at TSR had the bright idea to turn into an official AD&D
campaign setting. I was therefore very gratified when Ed agreed to be
interviewed here, resulting in what is probably the longest interview I’ve
yet conducted, the first part of which appears below.
Ed has agreed to answer any questions readers might have as a result of
something he said in this interview. Feel free to post them in the
comments and I’ll collect them all at the end of the series and pass them
along to him for reply. When he gets round to doing so, I’ll make another
post or two in which I’ll share his answers.
1. How did you become involved in the hobby of roleplaying?
From my very earliest memories, the house I grew up in, and those of
grandparents and uncles and aunts I visited, were full of books, music,
adult converse, and games. From cribbage to chess, various NATO
strategy games to euchre to checkers, we played games constantly. Back
in DRAGON #218, in the First Quest column, I told the story of how a
remarkable young woman named September, who soon died of cancer,
introduced my group of school friends to Dungeons & Dragons, then in
its fledgling stages (1975, also when I attended my first GenCon, Gencon
8, in Lake Geneva). I started running and playing in campaigns a little
later, in 1978 (and my next GenCon was number 13; after that, I missed a
few years, then attended GenCon 17 and every one since).
I first started reading DRAGON regularly, devouring its contents each
month, with issue 19. An incomplete rule and a mismatch between the
number of armies for one kingdom between the counter sheet and the
rules in the TSR fantasy boardgame DIVINE RIGHT spurred me to write
my first article for DRAGON, a short suggested errata piece for the game,
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19 September 2009
but the editor held onto that piece for a later (issue 34) “theme” issue on
the game. In the meantime, I had started creating monsters for the game
(I’m still designing them, and did so many that for a time, I was known at
TSR as “the Monster Man”), and the monster known as the Curst was my
first publication in DRAGON, in issue 30. It was closely followed by the
Crawling Claw in 32, and by then I was flooding the magazine with
articles, which soon led to my being named Contributing Editor (an
unsalaried title) and starting to write not just what struck me as
interesting, but assignments from the editors (like the Ecologies
articles).
2.. You mentioned Divine Right, does that mean you’re a fan of
military/political simulation games?
I’m a fan of all sorts of games, military/political simulation and
otherwise, from DIPLOMACY to WINTER WAR. I’m not fond of games
that take days or weeks to play, or that have rules so complicated that
actual lawyers have to spend hours puzzling them out, or games where
knowing Arcane Rule 336(b) will result in a guaranteed win for one side,
always. I’m also not fond of games that experts can enjoy but a novice
feels lost or bullied or unhappy when playing with experts (from contract
bridge on up through various board, strategy, and card games - - and yes,
I include the later editions of MAGIC: THE GATHERING in this,
wherein all the instants and interrupts and mutable lands and all the rest
resulted in a game great for tournament enthusiasts but no longer fun for
your Mom and Dad to try to learn).
However, give me something NOT entirely governed by the luck of the
cards or draw or whatever, and that has a cool terrain board with
strategic roads, bridges, or other areas, and I’m in. Everything from
MYTHOS (the card game) to BATTLE OF BRITAIN (the West End
games one-player game) to AWFUL GREEN THINGS FROM OUTER
SPACE or ELEFANT HUNT. What I lack is time and opportunity, not
enthusiasm.
3. What do you recall most about the early days of the hobby?
Mimeographed and photocopied “homemade” adventures, APA-zines
like ALARUMS & EXCURSIONS, and because I lived in Toronto, the
stores Mr. Gameway’s Ark and later The Battered Dwarf. More than all of
these, however, it was the general sense of community, despite poor
communications and lack of money on the part of most local gamers. We
drove long distances for get-togethers in strangers’ basements and public
libraries we’d never heard of or seen before, just to get together with
other gamers. There were no local conventions for roleplaying.
Wargames, yes, but roleplaying, no.
4. As I understand it, you first conceived of the fantasy setting
that would become the Forgotten Realms when you were still a
child. How of that original creation survived as the Realms
was developed in later years?
Yes, I was six when I first thought of the Realms and started writing
(short stories) about it. Almost all of my original creation and concepts
survived as the Realms was published, although a lot of it still hasn’t seen
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net 19 September 2009

print (and probably won’t, now, with the “time jump” between the 3e
Realms and the 4e Realms), though my Moonshae Isles were replaced by
an existing “Celtic/matter of Britain” campaign Doug Niles, a TSR staff
designer of the time, had been working on, and there have been many
additions (such as Kara-Tur) or recastings of my largely-offstage
kingdoms like Unther and Mulhorand to more closely resemble real-
world historical (or “Hollywood historical”) settings.
needs for specific elements (“We need a pirate ship setting; where in the
Realms would we find one? Where would Conan-like barbarians come
from? Do you have a larger city we could publish?”) for the unfolding
game line. I have designed, including writing rules, for the first three
editions of the game, but have always been a freelancer rather than an
employee of the game’s publisher.

The great majority of the Realms map, cities, countries, and characters
you read about are my creations, and a fair amount of them predate the ROGUE FEED
D&D game.
Update
5. Do the Realms have any literary antecedents? That is, are SEP 16, 2009 07:40P.M.
there are any particular books or authors who strongly
influenced you in the creation of the setting? This is becoming a trend, the Fungus Forest has been added too.

Yes and no. No, no authors strongly influenced me in the creation of the
setting. However, the setting was born out of my love of all sorts of
fiction, particularly fantasy fiction, that I read voraciously in my youth. ROGUE FEED
Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd & Gray Mouser tales influenced me in that when
reading the new ones as they first appeared in the pages of FANTASTIC, Retrospective: Forgotten
I noticed they were stand-alone episodes but took place in the same
setting, and that by reading a bunch of them, one learned more and more Realms Campaign Set
about the setting without the stories ever stopping to really turn and SEP 16, 2009 08:05A.M.
impart information about the world. I borrowed that idea in my fledgling
Realms stories, which concerned the aging, wheezing, sly old crook of a
merchant, Mirt the Moneylender (based on Falstaff, Poul Anderson’s
Nicholas van Rijn, and Guy Gilpatrick’s Glencannon), traveling along the
Sword Coast from port city to port city - - usually a step ahead of
creditors and foes who wanted to put swords through him!

However, I drew on everything fictional I loved (Dunsany, Zelazny, and

many, many more) to imagine the sort of fantastic world I’d like to visit,
and then wrote about it.

6. In those early days, what would you say was the relationship
between the D&D rules and the Forgotten Realms? That is, did
the nature of the rules dictate how you developed the setting
or did you bend the rules where they were incompatible with
your own ideas?

I didn’t worry about rules at all; I was concerned about presenting the
world (which predated the game, and most of the time was already
detailed in, say, a city or the lineage of a ruling family or local legends,
before the game rules came along) in full detail, so it could “seem real.”
In many instances, describing the world for a TSR printed Realms
product pointed out where there were gaps in the game rules (oops, we
have nothing to help DMs with, say, poisonous gases blown by winds
across a battlefield), but when you see “hard” rules in a Realms game
product, they were almost always written by a staff designer from my
detailed notes of the situation. I developed the 2nd Edition character
stats “shorthand” for the game, purely to save wordcount when co-
writing the FR ADVENTURES hardcover, but my “development” of the
setting predated the game, so game rules couldn’t dictate it. What DID
influence the development of the published Realms was TSR’s wants and
I’ve often said that, as a group, we gamers have very short memories.
Worse than that, though, are selective memories, which we also possess
in abundance. I bring this up in the wake of the still-ongoing debate
raging in the comments of my recent post about the D&D/AD&D
Chronology. 1987 saw the release of the Forgotten Realms Campaign
Set, which, for some, is as much of a harbinger of The End as I consider
the release of Dragons of Despair to be. While I understand some of the
ire directed at the setting, I nevertheless remain committed to the notion
that the original boxed set describes a world whose old school pedigree is
no less “pure” than that of Greyhawk or Blackmoor.
Granted, the treatment of the Forgotten Realms as a brand, by both TSR
and WotC, has often been less than ideal, to put it very charitably.
Indeed, Jeff Grubb’s introduction to the DM’s Sourcebook to the Realms

4
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net
(one of two books contained in the boxed set) makes this quite plain:
About midsummer of 1986, TSR was shopping for a new
world. We had experience in world-building under our belt,
with two versions of the WORLD OF GREYHAWK™
campaign setting, and the creation of Krynn, home of the
DRAGONLANCE Saga. This time, we were after something
different; a world that we could continue to develop over the
years that will follow, and set all future AD&D game
modules into. A place where a variety of talented
individuals could all contribute to its creation and its
development. Rather than one view, a combination of views
that would grow and develop through adventures,
sourcebooks, short stories, and books.
Please take note of the of the bolded section in the quote. As it turned
out, TSR did not in fact set all future AD&D modules in the Realms, but
they certainly made a good effort at it, producing reams of Realms-
related products over a very short period of time. In the process, they
certainly gave the impression that AD&D and the Forgotten Realms were
synonymous, an impression that left a bad taste in the mouths of D&D
fans.
Coming as this did so soon after the ouster of Gary Gygax from TSR, a
mythology has grown up around the Realms that I think is both untrue
and unfair. If one examines the Campaign Set on its own merits, it’s not
much different than what was found in the 1983 World of Greyhawk
boxed set. There’s more room given to NPC descriptions, it’s true, but the
vast majority of those NPCs are 9th level and below — precisely the sorts
of people with whom an average adventuring party would likely interact.
There are a handful of higher level NPCs, including the much-reviled
Elminster, but their descriptions make them appear almost as “scenery,”
no different than describing noteworthy cities or landmarks. There’s
little implication that Elminster or Khelben Arunsun are traveling the
world, righting all its wrongs. If anything, the implication is exactly the
opposite: evil in the Realms is too strong for any one person or group of
persons to overcome, which is where the PCs come into play.
I think it’s here that one of the largest fault lines lies for those who
dislike the Realms. The Realms in unambiguously a world in need of
“heroes,” not merely “adventurers.” A Realms character is far less likely
to be venal and self-interested, doing good more by accident than by
design. As a fan of morally ambiguous protagonists, I can certainly
appreciate this critique of the Realms, even if I don’t find it a damning
one. Not all fantasy literature is Howardian/Leiberian swords-and-
sorcery and not all swords-and-sorcery tales exist in a moral vacuum.
There is room for a type of fantasy where fighting evil is the primary
focus.
The problem, I think, is that, when the Realms made their debut, TSR
attempted to push the setting as its sole vision of what D&D was and
should be. You either signed on to it or you were left out in the cold. At
least that’s how it appeared to many gamers, who soon resented the
Realms and its popularity, all the while forgetting that much of what they
disliked about the setting had more to do with TSR’s marketing than
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19 September 2009
with any essential qualities of the setting itself. If one looks carefully at
the original boxed set, what you find is a wild world beset by evil, where
communication and travel are slow and local problems loom far larger
than epic, world-shattering plots.
Ed Greenwood’s own campaign was far more localized than was Gary
Gygax’s Greyhawk campaign, for what it’s worth, and the power level of
the PCs much lesser to boot. And this is all quite clear in the original
boxed set, whose treatment of most topics is sketchy and suggestive
rather than definitive. It’s a superb sandbox setting for heroic fantasy.
Now, not everyone wants a heroic fantasy sandbox and there’s nothing
wrong with that. However, I think it unfair to expect the Realms to be
Greyhawk or Nehwon or the Dying Earth; it was never intended to be.
What it is is the product of a longstanding D&D campaign, played by real
people, which puts it head and shoulders above many later beloved TSR
settings who owe their origins solely to finding new ways to squeeze yet
more money from the game’s fanbase.
If I sound defensive on this point, I apologize. I make no bones about the
fact that I have been a fan of the Realms since I first read Greenwood’s
articles in Dragon. His setting always struck me as the kind of campaign
I wish I had run — not just the setting itself, although I did love it, but
also the group of regular, steady players whose characters grew slowly
over time and many exciting adventures. That doesn’t blind me to the
fact that, over the years, the Forgotten Realms product line has included
many, many silly things and has thrived on a constant stream of
auctorial one-upmanship in an effort to sell more supplements and
novels. But I don’t think that has any more bearing on the quality of the
original Campaign Set than does the existence of the Rose Estes
Greyhawk novels (or, for that matter, the later Gygax-penned “Gord the
Rogue” books) have on the World of Greyhawk.
Critics often forget that the Forgotten Realms Campaign Set was the last
campaign setting released for First Edition. Though the 2e era is where
the Realms were flogged to death, it was 1e that gave birth to it and that’s
quite visible in the product itself, if one cares to read it with unbiased
eyes. In reviewing my copy for this retrospective, I found myself able to
forget all that came after it and enjoy it for what it is: a huge, wide-open
setting drawn in broad strokes, just waiting for individual referees and
players to fill in the details — exactly what a good campaign setting
should be.
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net
ROGUE FEED
Update
SEP 15, 2009 04:51P.M.
A nice update to the Fungus Forset has been posted. This is a huge level,
and it will be posted over a period of time.
ROGUE FEED
The schedule is a changing
SEP 15, 2009 03:53P.M.
So, the planned releases are undergoing a revision. Nothing is being
dropped, in fact a book is being added. Starting next year there will be
three Colonial Gothic releases. As things stand now, there will be a
release in the Sping, Summer and Winter.
Why all of this? To meet demand.
So what is coming?
Have patience. I can tell you that both the Gazetteer and French
Indian War book is out next year. The third book will be kept under
wraps.
Next year is shaping up to be a big year for us. In all 6 books will be
released next year. You will have Colonial Gothic, Thousand Suns, and a
little game we’ve been talking about called Shadow, Sword & Spell.
ROGUE FEED
In Praise of “Silly” Names
SEP 15, 2009 10:42A.M.
In preparing my online Dwimmermount campaign, I was reminded of
something I missed about so many of my campaigns of old: “silly”
names. Now, by “silly,” I don’t necessarily mean absurd or ludicrous
names, like Groucho or Sneezy, although names like that are among
those I seek to praise in this post. Perhaps a better word is
“inappropriate,” although even that isn’t quite right.
You see, I have this strange notion that a character’s name is important.
All characters should have names, even in old school games with a high
mortality rate. Naming one’s character is one of the things that separates
even combat-intensive RPGs from wargames, which is why I’m insistent
on every character’s having one. I also feel a character’s one is one of the
few things a player can freely give to his character without having to take
into account dice rolls, game mechanics, or any other external factors.
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19 September 2009
Like parents naming their child, a player’s choice of name for his
character is a statement and I think it’s almost always better if that
statement can be made without any strings attached.
That’s why I don’t hand out a list of “acceptable” names to my players or
vet their choice of name, even if I don’t really like it or consider it
somehow peculiar. I do this, first, for the reasons I stated in the previous
paragraph and, second, because experience has taught me that “silly”
names generally resolve themselves over time. Characters with purely
joke names don’t last long, because their players tend not to care even
minimally about them. They make foolish mistakes and engage in self-
destructive actions and, before long, Zippo the Fire Mage is no more.
Of course, that doesn’t always happen, especially a character with a silly
name somehow manages to survive in spite of it all. In such cases, the
player starts to treat them as something more than a random collection
of stats and, once in that state of mind, they start to think differently
about the character. That’s one of the parts of gaming that really
intrigues me: the moment when a character is “born” from a collection of
random game statistics. Many characters never truly come alive, but
enough do that I enjoy watching it happen.
What I have noticed is that, once it does happen, the player of such a
character starts to attempt to rationalize everything about his character,
so that it “makes sense.” If the character has a genuinely silly name, the
player will try to rationalize that too, claiming it’s a nickname or nom de
guerre or creating a backstory to explain it. I never insist on such things
to start, since there are no guarantees in my games and characters might
well not live long enough to justify such effort, but neither do I
discourage them. My feeling is that characters are made in many
different ways and some of the best ones I’ve ever encountered came into
being weeks or months after their first appearance, once they’d had a
chance to get a few adventures under their belts and become more than
just Fighting Man #6 or The Thief.
Rationalizing silly names is made easier if the referee keeps his campaign
setting only as detailed as it needs to be for play. Too much detail means
that players must conform their characters to the world from the start
and, except in very specific circumstances, that’s not something that
interests me anymore. I’d much rather give a wide berth to my players
and then worry about fitting their characters into a grand scheme later, if
ever. Besides, one of the joys of old school refereeing is rolling with the
punches and making things up on the fly. Finding ways to incorporate
silly names into a campaign setting is pretty small beans, when you think
about it, and, much like rolling randomly for many things, silly names
can sometimes be a good way to shake a referee out of a rut, encouraging
him to think differently, even whimsically, about his game. That’s always
a good thing.
I may be biased, of course, since several characters from my old
campaigns had silly names that, over time, ceased to be silly as the
character survived and developed beyond being a collection of numbers
on a sheet of paper. Likewise, I know all too well my predisposition
toward stolid seriousness. Silly names are good medicine for my soul and
help remind me that I’m just playing a game. The point is to have fun,
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net
after all, and if one of my players has fun by calling his character’s
henchman Justin Case, who am I to argue? Indeed, why would I even
want to argue? Looking at the earliest RPG campaigns like Blackmoor
and Greyhawk, silly names were pretty much par for the course. Silly
names don’t necessarily imply silly campaigns and, even then, so what? I
think we could all use a lot more silliness in our lives.
And so I salute the memories of Morgan Just(ice), Hercles, Ogla O’Dell,
Ichabod Duck, Theinberger the Thief and his brother Weinberger,
Dalastie Dave, and countless others I have forgotten. My gaming was all
the better for the existence of these characters.
ROGUE FEED
Superheroes
SEP 14, 2009 11:13A.M.
Does anyone have any idea about the origin of the term “superhero” in
early RPGs like OD&D and RuneQuest? I suppose it’s possible that it’s
ultimately derived from comics and then re-purposed in fantasy gaming,
but I don’t get the sense that that’s the case, or at least I get the sense
that there’s more to it than that. Mind you, that’s purely a gut feeling
rather than anything more substantive, so I’d love to know the truth of
the matter.
Anyone out there know?
ROGUE FEED
Pulp Fantasy Library: Night’s
Master
SEP 14, 2009 08:09A.M.
In my experience, Tanith Lee is an author about whom few have any
7
19 September 2009
ambivalence: you either love her writing or you hate it. For myself, I love
it, although I’ll admit that I cannot take it in large doses, as it’s
exceedingly rich — “florid,” some might call it — and I find it very easy to
get lost in it without any real comprehension of what I’m reading.
That’s particularly true of her 1978 novel, Night’s Master, which is the
first in her “Tales from the Flat Earth” series. The series is so called
because they take place in a fantasy realm that really is a gigantic, flat
square floating within a sea of eternal chaos. Above the Flat Earth is the
Upperearth inhabited by the ethereal, distant gods who have little to no
contact with the mortal beings that live below. Beneath the world is the
Underearth, which is the realm of demons, who, unfortunately for
humans, are not nearly so distant as are the gods.
The novel itself concerns Azhrarn, who is the Prince of Demons, who
functions both as its protagonist and antagonist — such is the conflicted
nature of this otherworldly being and his relationship with the human
beings he at once despises and loves, as they give meaning to his
existence. The book itself is a peculiar one, both in form and content. I’ve
already noted that Lee’s writing is rich, possessing a dream-like quality
to it, which is perhaps fitting since Night’s Master is less a traditional
novel and more a collection of episodes in which Azhrarn engages in his
task of inspiring wickedness in humanity. There’s a dark fairy tale quality
to the entire book and Lee is very good in maintaining this quality
throughout. As I said, her writing is not to everyone’s tastes, but there’s
no denying that her talent.
Compared to many treatments of Lucifer-like characters, Night’s Master
is much more subtle and complex. While we’re clearly meant to
sympathize with Azhrarn on some level, he doesn’t come across as a
heroic but doomed rebel, a prototype for idealistic revolutionaries
striving against irrational tyrannies and I’m grateful for that. Azhrarn is
a very unpleasant being and his actions are usually despicable. What the
novel does do, though, is provide some insight into what drives the
Prince of Demons to do what he does and it’s here that I find it most
interesting. Far from being a black hat from central casting, Azhrarn is a
fully-realized villain — but villain he is. Night’s Master is thus an
excellently mythological take on the psychology of evil, set in an
interesting world and supported by gorgeous prose. Even if you don’t
enjoy it as much as I did, I think it’s worth reading at least once.
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net
ROGUE FEED
The start of a new update
SEP 11, 2009 08:21P.M.
We have not forgotten about this project. We have just been a bit busy,
and waiting on some of the volunteers to turn in their sections. We have
a new one getting ready to go live now. How does a Fungus Forest
sound?
You can see the maps at Level 2B — The Fungus Forest. The key will be
posted over the next few days.
ROGUE FEED
Thoughts on D&D;/AD&D;
Chronology (Part II)
SEP 11, 2009 07:14A.M.
Here is another collection of random thoughts related to Chris
Tichenor’s chronology of D&D/AD&D products. Today’s post begins with
1983, an important transitional year in my opinion.
1983
Though my fondest memory of this year is the release of Monster
Manual II, for which I still have an inordinate love, the main event was
the publication of the Frank Mentzer-edited Basic and Expert sets. My
love for these is not great, as I’ve noted before, but I’m apparently in the
minority among gamers, since, by most accounts, these were the best-
selling versions of D&D ever. I personally find them too slick and
soulless, compared even to Moldvay’s rules and there’s no question that
the esthetics of the Mentzer edition are rooted in the Silver not Golden
Age. 1983 also sees the release of a large number of modules, including
the conclusions to the “Desert of Desolation” series and Ravenloft,
forerunners all to what awaits the hobby in the following year.
1984
With the exception of the D&D Companion Rules, which I actually
enjoyed, the majority of this years releases were modules — a lot of
modules, most of them quite forgettable. Among them are the first five
Dragonlance modules, about which I’ve written before. I also notice two
other things. First, there are a couple of licensed modules (the Conan
ones), but also a great many geared toward supporting the Basic, Expert,
and Companion rules sets. That’s almost as big a story as Dragonlance
in some ways, since it suggests that TSR sees adventure modules as the
pre-eminent support product for these lines and, by extension, the
primary means by which the game is meant to be played.
1985
Not a good year in my opinion, although many products made their
debut, among them Oriental Adventures and Unearthed Arcana, two
flawed “classics.” I call them classics because I have fond memories of
8
19 September 2009
both, as I think many gamers from that era do, even though now, in
retrospect, I can what they presaged for the game and the hobby. The
Master Rules are thin gruel intended to fill out a schematized business
plan rather than any compelling need within the game. There’s yet more
licensed properties (Lankhmar) and even more modules than 1984. Of
these, only Gary’s The Isle of the Ape is a stand-out and even it is marred
somewhat by its heavy use — and dependence on — material from
Unearthed Arcana. However generous one is willing to be to 1983 and
1984, I don’t think one can easily argue that the Old Ways were all but
dead by 1985.
1986
Not one but two hardcover books released this year, both of them largely
worthless (though I loved them as a young man). Clearly, TSR had come
to the conclusion that more hardcovers equals more cash and ran with
that idea, laying the groundwork for what was to come. The Immortal
Rules are even less useful than the Master Rules, being effectively a
different game entirely and not a particularly interesting or well-
designed one at that. If I’m going to play a wacky immortal in training,
I’d rather play Tom Moldvay’s Lords of Creation any day of the week.
Tons of modules, most of them forgettable, appear this year as well. The
only standouts in my opinion are B10, which is unexpectedly good, and
the Blackmoor modules.
1987
Yet more hardcovers and not very good ones at that. It’s also the dawn of
the Pre-Fab Campaign Age, with the release of not just the Forgotten
Realms Campaign Setting (which is better than its reputation among old
schoolers would suggest), but also Kara-Tur and the GAZ line for D&D
(which is more of a mixed bag in my opinion). Lots more modules —
including the Official RPGA Tourney Handbook — but, once again, only
the Blackmoor modules hold much interest.
1988
One more sub-par hardcover, Greyhawk Adventures, and tons of
campaign setting accessories, both for the Realms and the Known World.
Indeed, the number of actual adventure published this year is negligible,
as they give way to setting information as the new cash cow of TSR,
something that would reach its fullest flower in a few years. This is also
when Castle Greyhawk appears, a module whose origins and purpose
remain subjects of much debate more than 20 years later. Regardless of
the true intentions behind it, I think it’s a fitting capstone to the end of
the post-Gygax AD&D.
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net
ROGUE FEED
Days of High Adventure
SEP 10, 2009 05:06P.M.
I’d neglected to mention that The Escapist, an online magazine covering
gaming and gaming culture, recently began a weekly column called
“Days of High Adventure,” which is dedicated to tabletop roleplaying
games, particularly those of an old school character. I’m fortunate
enough to be one of their regular columnists, along with Allen Varney,
Monte Cook, and fellow blogger, Christopher Brackett of A Rust Monster
Ate My Sword.
Aside from the opportunity it’s afforded me, I’m particularly pleased to
see this column in a widely read and much-respected “outside” gaming
journal. It’s rare nowadays that tabletop RPGs get much exposure in the
wider world, so I’m very grateful to the editors of The Escapist for
expanding their focus into the part of the gaming world I love best.
ROGUE FEED
[Dolphin] Q&A;
SEP 10, 2009 04:58P.M.
Before I dive into the next post, there are a few questions I want to
answer. These are answers to some emails, tweets, and messages I have
gotten since I first started talking about this.
Q. Is Rogue Games going to publish this?
A. Yes.
Q. When will this be released?
A. When it is done.
Q. Really, there is no plan to this?
A. No.
Q. You’re crazy.
A. Yes, I know. That is not a question by the way.
Q. Is this going to be a roleplaying game?
A. Yes.
Q. So, let me get this straight. As a player, I play a dolphin?
A. Yes. All characters are dolphins. The entire game takes place under
the sea.
9
19 September 2009
Q. Will Dolphin run on 12°?
A. Yes. The mechanic is perfect for a game of this type. Dolphin is more
narrative in the type of adventures you run and play in. 12° is a good
mechanic, that when you take it to the core, allows for easy task
resolution. It does not get in the way, and does not make things too
complicated. The type of actions that take place in the game, needs a
mechanic like 12° to drive it.
Q. If you are using 12° will this be similar to how the mechanic is used
in either Colonial Gothic or Thousand Suns?
A. No. Both of those games are different in tone and the type of rules you
need are different as well. Both games need — let alone require — rules
allowing for Skills, structured combat, and add on features that a game
such as Dolphin does not require. The best example of this is Skills. Both
Colonial Gothic and Thousand Suns need them. Dolphin does not. Why?
For a couple of reasons.
First, the player characters are all dolphins, and because of this, they
pretty much are all able to do the same things. What Dolphin will do is
merge Skill Tests in with ability Tests. By that, if you want your PC to
fight, it is a Strength Test. Abilities — in Dolphin — set your skills. This is
similar to what is done in Toon, but unlike Toon, you will not have a list
of skills listed under each ability. Instead, all Tests, are driven by the
appropriate ability.
Secondly, these are dolphins after all. I am going for a different tone with
this game, and because of this, I do not need the complexity that is found
in Colonial Gothic and Thousand Suns.
Q. So what is the tone? You mentioned Finding Nemo before, are you
trying to do a game like that?
A. Yes, and no. What I want with Dolphin is a game that allows me to run
— and play — adventures that are more drama. I want to run a game that
can be more cienamtic, as well as one, that does not bog down the play.
What I am doing with this game, and what the players have been doing,
is more narrative.
Anyway, this should bring you up to speed on the what and how. Next
post will be about the setting.
Posted in entertainment, Games, Rogue Games, thoughts Tagged: 12°,
design notes, Dolphin, game design, Games, Rogue Games, thoughts,
writing
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net 19 September 2009

ROGUE FEED

The Wiki’s
Subscribe
SEP 10, 2009 02:53P.M.
© 2008 Rogue Games
With the website move done, the RSS Feeds for both the New World Copyright Information
Almanack and the Encyclopedia Galactica have changed. You can
subscribe to them using the following links:

ROGUE FEED

The Soldier at Home, 1781

Subscribe to the Encyclopedia Galactica Feed
SEP 10, 2009 09:24A.M.

THE SOLDIER AT HOME

FROM noise of camps once more I come,

Subscribe to the New World Almanack Feed To snatch from care a short repose ;
All hail thou tranquil much lov’d home,
So why should you subscribe? Every time the wiki’s are updated, you will That war nor dread misfortune knows.
get the updates in your newsreader.
Thus, far remov’d from hostile bands,
May’st thou heart-pleasing home remain ;
Curs’d be the murderous foreign hands
That dare with blood thy bosom stain.

ROGUE FEED Oh haste, ye generous few I love,

Again in social converse join;
MainMenu With me the sweets of friendship prove,
SEP 10, 2009 02:45P.M. And to the winds your cares resign.

Adventure Seeds But oh ! to recollect how soon

Background The period comes that bids me hence ;
The Colonies A sadd’ning momentary gloom
Conversion Notes Steals half my joys, and clouds my sense.
Fate and Prophecies
Floor plans But why indulge that care-mix’d thought ?
Heroic Lifestyle The happy day may yet arrive,
Heroes of the Colonies When tyranny shall fall to nought,
Items of Significance And liberty alone survive.
Magic in the World
Rituals Then with my friends in jocund mood,
Supporting Characters I’ll tell what dangers have been mine ;
Creatures And how Americans have stood
Villains At Germantown and Brandywine.
At Play Write Ups
Play Aids Here we’ll remember martial Gates,
Submit He taught the proud Burgoyne to yield ;
Colonial Gothic Who frowning at his adverse fates,
The Gazette Surrender’d on the well fought field.

Then each gay friend shall swell the tale,

With hardy deeds of bold emprise ;
Again he sees our arms prevail,
And long-lost ardors now arise.

10
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net 19 September 2009

Here Howe, says he, (and marks the track,) But oh ! how we hurried and scurried,
The British troops did proudly form ; Our cowardly enemies scorning ;
And here with adverse lines compact, There we run away over night,
Brave Washington did swell the storm. And there we waited till morning.

‘Twas here I was, and points the spot, Parliaments squabble and gabble,
(As he had traced on the ground,) Ministers wonder and stare ;
What bursts of thunder, showers of shot, Armies march backwards and forwards,
Yet there great Washington was found. Americans stand as they were.

At Monmouth’s plains, where Lee retreated, But oh ! how bloody and stout,
Great Washington did then push on ; Struts the commander-in-chief ;
Sir Harry’s chosen troops defeated, He’s as sharp as a snipe at the snout,
Then laugh’d his tyranny to scorn. And lacks nothing but wisdom and beef.

These happy days are yet to come, This lord bids him go up,
Then why repine at such a fate ; That lord makes him run down,
Bear well the woe that is your doom, T’other drives him first backwards and forwards,
And joy can never come too late. And a fourth makes him skip and turn round.

With such mighty armies and fleets,

With commanders and ministers true ;
ROGUE FEED We bully all kingdoms and states,
Tho’ to beat one we cannot tell how.
New Year’s Day, 1781 But so we go up, up, up, &c.
SEP 10, 2009 09:18A.M.
As for our credit and wealth,
Written in America, and published in a music sheet, entitled “New Year’s The pride and the strength of John Bull ;
Day, 1781, to the tune ‘Get you gone, raw head and bloody bones.’” It also The nation’s as poor as myself,
appeared in the anti-ministerial English and American newspapers of Tho’ Lord North swears his budget’s quite full
the time. So we go up, up, up, &c.

NEW YEAR’S DAY Oh ! for a gibbet and block,

Oh ! for a hatchet and cleaver ;
OH ! old England, old England ; How well would a home-hit stroke,
And oh ! the New Year’s day ; Prove a just and a kind reliever.
Such a new year as this Then would old England go up,
A blind man would gladly see. Instead of going down, down-a;
How we go up, up, up, &c. We’re tired of backwards and forwards,
Tis’ time that things were turn d round-a.
Now we are at a dead stop,
And so we sink deeper and deeper , Then would we lop ‘em and crop ‘em,
Little Greorgey’s as sound as a top, Bring traitors at once to a level ;
And his Primy’s an excellent sleeper. The junta should lead up the dance,
And the others the way to the devil.
Oh ! the navy, the navy, Then would old England go up, &c.
Of Britain the safety and boast ;
Lord Twitcher has kept it so safely, At court we make snuffers and buttons,
Our foes on the seas rule the roast. Great folks must have something to do ;
Bully Bagshot cures drunkards and gluttons,
Here’s an inferior fleet, The king gallops from Windsor to Kew.
With an admiral wrapt up in flannel ; See him tit up a tit up, &c.
By which we’re insulted abroad,
And with which we sneak into the channel. Oh ! religion, religion,

11
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net 19 September 2009

I mean to be seriously grave, • General Sullivan’s Song, 1777

Archbishops and bishops raise papists,
The protestant cause for to save. • The Heads, 1776
So we go up, up, up, &c.
• A Hymn, 1778
See Murray and Wedderburne both,
O’er our lives and our fortunes preside ; • Independence, 1776
And its lucky for England, in troth,
No such lawyers are bred south of Tweed. • Lord North’s Recantation, 1778
So we go up, up, up, &c.
• A New Ballad, 1779
So we’re abolish’d, demolish’d,
Yet no man stands up for his right ; • A New War Song, 1776
But, my friends, while the kingdom’s on fire,
The Scots make their way by the light. • New Year’s Day, 1781
Then help old England up,
And knock all her enemies down, • Old England, 1778
Let us join as all Englishmen ought,
‘Tis time that things were turn’d round. • The Present Age, 1779

• The Rebels, 1778

ROGUE FEED • The Recess, 1779

Songs • Saratoga Song, 1777

SEP 10, 2009 09:17A.M.
• Sergeant Champe, 1780
• A Ballad, 1776
• To the Commons, 1776
• A Ballad to the tune of “Smile Britannia,” 1776
• Volunteer Boys, 1780
• A New Song, 1779

• A Song About Charleston, 1780

ROGUE FEED
• Affair of Honor, 1778
SiteSubtitle
• An Appeal, 1780 SEP 10, 2009 09:10A.M.

• Battle of Trenton, 1776 A regularly updated resource for the Thousand Suns roleplaying game
by Rogue Games
• British Light Infantry, 1778

• Brave Paulding and The Spy, 1780

• The Cow Chace, 1780

• Dutch Song, 1779

• Expedition to Rhode Island, 1778

• The Fate of John Burgoyne, 1777

• The Gamester, 1778

12
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net
ROGUE FEED
Thoughts on the D&D;/AD&D;
Chronology (Part I)
SEP 10, 2009 07:13A.M.
Lots of interesting commentary resulted from my post yesterday about
Chris Tichenor’s chronology of D&D/AD&D products released by TSR
between 1974 (the release of OD&D) and 1988 (the last year of 1e).
Today, I’m going to offer my own rambling thoughts on the first part of
the chronology, using each year as a touchstone for whatever comes to
mind. I’ll do a second post on the remaining years later today or
tomorrow.
1974
Not much to say here, since it’s Year 1 and there’s only a single product
available.
1975
In many ways, 1975 is the “true” birthdate of D&D, as we know it today,
since the release of Supplements I and II was the first appearance of
many of the game mechanics and features now indelibly associated with
D&D (such as the thief class, for example). It’s also also where the
creation of D&D‘s own unique “mythology” kicks into high gear, with the
addition of monsters like the beholder, umber hulks, rust monster,
carrion crawler, sahuagin, and so forth. The LBBs largely content
themselves with monsters from real world sources, but Greyhawk and
Blackmoor describe far more monsters who have their origins in D&D
campaigns rather than in myths or legends. This is the start of the game’s
creative self-referentiality.
It’s also worth noting that, between them, the two supplements to OD&D
constitute more pages than the three LBBs combined: 128 half-pages vs.
112 half-pages.
1976
This is the year D&D was supposed to “end,” according to the
introduction to Supplement IV by Tim Kask, at least in terms of “official”
supplements. That obviously didn’t happen, but it’s still interesting to
consider a world in which Kask’s proclamation came true — where
further development of the game was confined to periodicals like
Dragon and where published support came in the form of products like
Dungeon Geomorphs or related spin-off games like Swords & Spells.
1977
This year is an interesting year. We see the first AD&D product — the
Monster Manual — as well as re-working of the LBBs into an “intro”
product. The only support products are more geomorphs, monsters and
treasure assortments, and character sheets. From my perspective, the
complexion of the game hasn’t changed all that much. The MM is still, in
many ways, a support product for OD&D, despite its branding, since the
stats are quite compatible (indeed there are some OD&D-isms scattered
throughout the text) and the monster format of OD&D isn’t conducive to
ease of use. Granted, I do think the MM frequently provides too much
13
19 September 2009
information for my tastes, but I suspect I’m in the minority on this score.
1978
A big year — an annus mirabilis, as Delta called it. We see not only the
release of the Players Handbook, but also a series of superb adventure
modules. Nevertheless, you can detect a shift in the game. The PHB
added a fair amount of complexity to the game, both in terms of detail
and rules. Likewise, the appearance of modules marks a move away from
homebrew adventures as the default way that people played D&D. I don’t
think these shifts are, in and of themselves, bad ones and I actually think
there’s much to be said in favor of modules — in another post perhaps —
but the game is clearly changing by this point.
1979
A strangely sedate year. Yes, there’s the release of the Dungeon Masters
Guide, which is, in some ways, one of the most important books ever
released for D&D. Beyond that, though, support for the game is sparser
than in 1978. Only three modules are released — all classics, again — and
the remainder consists of record sheets and a referee’s screen. I can’t
help but wonder if perhaps TSR was, at this stage, under-staffed and
over-worked, which is why you see many new employees in 1980 and ‘81.
1980
The fourth AD&D hardcover appears, along with a handful of modules,
most of which have their origins in convention play, a phenomenon that
becomes ever more important to the way the game is designed. We also
see the first official campaign setting for D&D.
1981
The Fiend Folio marks the rise of the game as an international hobby.
The slew of modules are a varied lot, but what stands out is the presence
of so many new writers. The big events of the year, though, are the
release of the Basic and Expert Sets, which were the first serious
attempts to make the game appealing to the mass market.
1982
Modules have obviously become a mainstay for TSR, which releases nine
of them this year. Again, they’re a varied lot with a variety of authors,
among them Tracy Hickman, whose Pharaoh, while still rooted in many
aspects of the old school, points the way to the future of both module
design and D&D itself.
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net 19 September 2009

ROGUE FEED Accessories:

Supplement I: Greyhawk
An EPT Oddity Supplement II: Blackmoor
SEP 09, 2009 11:33A.M.
1976:
In re-reading Empire of the Petal Throne recently, I noticed a peculiarity Accessories:
in its use of percentile dice. Take for example this passage on seeking Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry
permission to change one’s alignment at a temple: Supplement IV: Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes
Swords & Spells
It is possible to change one’s alignment by going to a temple Dungeon Geomorphs Set One
of one of the Gods (not a Cohort) of the opposite alignment
and seeking permission to change. This is granted upon a roll 1977:
of 60 or more on two percentile dice. Hardbacks:
Monster Manual
This is opposite the usual practice where a referee might judge a 40%
change of gaining permission from the temple, with the player Boxed Sets:
succeeding in the roll if he success 40 or less on D100. This peculiar Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (Holmes ed. Sutherland cover art)
practice appears throughout the rulebook, such as on the table for
acquiring bonus spells as a character gains new levels. The table only Accessories:
makes sense if one must roll a certain number or higher on percentile Character Record Sheets (Tom Wham cover art)
dice. Otherwise, the chance to gain a Group I spell (the least powerful Dungeon Geomorphs Set Two
type of spell) decrease from 80% to 70% once a 2nd-level character gains Dungeon Geomorphs Set Three
3rd level. Outdoor Geomorphs Set One: Walled City
Monster & Treasure Assortment Set One
Granted, this “higher is always better” interpretation is consistent with Monster & Treasure Assortment Set Two
Professor Barker’s freeform “Thursday Night Rules,” but it’s very
different than the way percentiles have been used in nearly every other 1978:
game I have ever played. Or is it? Perhaps I’ve missed something Hardbacks:
somewhere. Can any think of using percentiles in a fashion like this Players Handbook
elsewhere, particularly in the early days of the hobby?
Accessories:
Monster & Treasure Assortment Set Three

ROGUE FEED Adventures:

B1 In Search of the Unknown
D&D;/AD&D; Product D1 Descent into the Depths of the Earth
D2 The Shrine of the Kuo-Toa
Chronology D3 Vault of the Drow
SEP 09, 2009 07:19A.M. G1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief
G2 The Glacial Rift of the Front Giant Jarl
Chris Tichenor compiled an excellent list of all the products released by G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King
TSR for Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons S1 Tomb of Horrors
between 1974 and 1988, which I’ve reproduced below. What I like most
about this list is the way it reveals trends in both the kinds of products 1979:
TSR was publishing and the way that D&D was conceived of by the Hardbacks:
company. Later today, I’ll post my own year-by-year thoughts about this Dungeon Masters Guide
list, but do feel free to make your own comments about it beforehand.
I’m curious to see how much intersection there is between my own Accessories:
opinions on this matter and that of my readers. Character Record Sheets (golden-rod w/ pink/purple Erol Otus art, later
blue Jeff Dee art)
1974: DM Screen (Yellow/Gold Erol Otus cover)
Boxed Sets: NPC Records Folder
Dungeons & Dragons (original 3-volume set) Permanent Character Folders
Official AD&D Coloring Book
1975:

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net 19 September 2009

Adventures: S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth

B2 Keep on the Borderlands U2 Danger at Dunwater
S2 White Plume Mountain WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun
T1 Village of Hommlet X2 Castle Amber (Chateau d’ Amberville)
X3 Curse of Xanathon
1980:
Hardbacks: 1983:
Deities & Demigods (Reprinted in 1983 as Legends & Lore) Hardbacks:
Monster Manual II
Acessories:
DM’s Adventure Log Boxed Sets:
The Rogue’s Gallery Dungeons & Dragons Set 1: Basic Rules (Mentzer ed. Elmore cover art)
World of Greyhawk campaign folio Dungeons & Dragons Set 2: Expert Rules (Mentzer ed. Elmore cover art)
Dungeon Geomorphs Set One-Three (re-print) World of Greyhawk
Monster & Treasure Assortment Set One-Three (re-print)
Accessories:
Adventures: AC1 The Shady Dragon Inn
A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity
C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tomoachan Adventures:
C2 Ghost Tower of Inverness B5 Horror on the Hill
Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits EX1 Dungeonland
S3 Expedition to Barrier Peak EX2 The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror
I4 Oasis of the White Palm
1981: I5 Lost Tomb of Martek
Hardbacks: I6 Ravenloft
Fiend Folio L2 The Assassin’s Knot
M1 Blizzard Pass
Boxed Sets: M2 Maze of the Riddling Minotaur
Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (Moldvay ed. Otus cover art) O1 The Gem and the Staff
Dungeons & Dragons Expert Set (Cook w/ Marsh ed. Otus cover art) U3 The Final Enemy
UK1 Beyond the Crystal Cave
Accessories: UK2 The Sentinel
Player Character Record Sheets (Roslof cover art) X4 Master of the Desert Nomads
X5 Temple of Death
Adventures:
A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade 1984:
A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords Boxed Sets:
A4 In the Dungeon of the Slave Lords Dungeons & Dragons Set 3: Companion Rules
B3 Palace of the Silver Princess
D1-2 Descent into the Depths of the Earth (re-print) Accessories:
G1-2-3 Against the Giants (re-print) AC2 Combat Shield & Mini-adventure
I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City AC3 3-D Dragon Tiles featuring The Kidnapping of Princess Arlena
L1 The Secret of Bone Hill AC4 The Book of Marvelous Magic
U1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh AC5 Player Character Record Sheets (same format, different cover art as
X1 The Isle of Dread 1981 sheets)

1982: Adventures:
Accessories: B6 The Veiled Society
Monster Cards, Sets 1-4 B7 Rahasia
B8 Journey to the Rock
Adventures: BSOLO Ghost of Lion Castle
B4 The Lost City C3 The Lost Island of Castanamir
I2 Tomb of the Lizard King C4 To Find a King
I3 Pharoah CB1 Conan Unchained!
N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God CB2 Conan Against Darkness!

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net 19 September 2009

CM1 Test of the Warlords T1-4 The Temple of Elemental Evil

CM2 Death’s Ride UK7 Dark Clouds Gather
CM3 Sabre River WG6 Isle of the Ape
DL1 Dragons of Despair X9 The Savage Coast
DL2 Dragons of Flame X10 Red Arrow, Black Shield
DL3 Dragons of Hope XS2 Thunderdelve Mountain,
DL4 Dragons of Desolation
DL5 Dragons of Mystery 1986:
MV1 Midnight on Dagger Alley Hardbacks:
N2 The Forest Oracle Dungeoneer’s Survival Guide
O2 Blade of Vengeance Wilderness Survival Guide
UK3 The Gauntlet
UK4 When a Star Falls Boxed Sets:
UK5 Eye of the Serpent Dungeons & Dragons Set 5: Immortal Rules
UK6 All that Glitters…
WG5 Mordenkainen’s Fantastic Adventure Accessories:
X6 Quagmire! AC9 Creature Catalogue
X7 The War Rafts of Kron REF2 Character Record Sheets
X8 Drums on Fire Mountain REF3 Book of Lairs
XL1 Quest for the Heartstone
XSOLO Lathan’s Gold Adventures:
A1-4 Scourge of the Slavelords (re-print)
1985: B10 Night’s Dark Terror
Hardbacks: CA2 Swords of Deceit
Oriental Adventures CM7 The Tree of Life
Unearthed Arcana DA1 Adventures in Blackmoor
DA2 Temple of the Frog
Boxed Sets: DL12 Dragons of Faith
Battlesystem DL13 Dragons of Truth
Dungeons & Dragons Set 4: Master Rules DL14 Dragons of Triumph
GDQ1-7 Queen of the Spiders (re-print)
Accessories: H2 The Mines of Bloodstone
Lankhmar: City of Adventure I8 Ravager of Time
AC6 Player Character Record Sheets I9 Day of Al’Akbar
AC7 Master Player Screen featuring The Spindle I10 Ravenloft II: The House on Griffon Hill
AC8 3-D Dragon Tiles featuring The Revenge of Rusak (a/k/a AC3, a/k/a IM1 Immortal Storm
AC5) M2 Vengeance of Alphaks
REF1 DM Screen M3 Twilight Calling
N3 Destiny of Kings
Adventures: N4 Treasure Hunt
B9 Castle Caldwell and Beyond OA1 Swords of Daimyo
C5 The Bane of Llywelyn OA2 Night of the Seven Swords
CA1 Swords of the Undercity RS1 Red Sonya Unconquered
CM4 Earthshaker! X11 Saga of the Shadow Lord
CM5 Mystery of the Snow Pearls
CM6 Where Chaos Reigns 1987:
DL6 Dragons of Ice Hardbacks:
DL7 Dragons of Light Dragonlance Adventures
DL8 Dragons of War Manual of the Planes
DL9 Dragons of Deceit
DL10 Dragons of Dreams Boxed Sets:
DL11 Dragons of Glory Forgotten Realms Campaign
H1 Bloodstone Pass Kara Tur, the Eastern Lands
I7 Baltron’s Beacon
M1 Into the Maelstrom Acessories:

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net 19 September 2009

AC10 Bestiary of Dragons and Giants Adventures:

AC11 The Book of Wondrous Inventions DL15 Mists of Krynn
FR1 Waterdeep and the North DL16 World of Krynn
FR2 Moonshae FRC1 Ruins of Adventure
GAZ1 The Grand Duchy of Karameikos H4 Throne of Bloodstone
GAZ2 The Emirates of Ylaruam I14 Swords of the Iron Legion
GAZ3 The Principalities of Glantri OA5 Mad Monkey vs. the Dragon Claw
GAZ4 The Kingdom of Ierendi OP1 Tales of the Outer Planes
REF4 Book of Lairs II WG7 Castle Greyhawk

Adventures:
B1-9 In Search of Adventure (re-print)
C6 Official RPGA Tourney Handbook ROGUE FEED
CM8 The Endless Stair
CM9 Legacy of Blood Retrospective: Masks of
DA3 City of the Gods
DA4 Duchy of Ten Nyarlathotep
DQ1 The Shattered Statue SEP 08, 2009 11:01P.M.
H3 The Bloodstone Wars
I3-5 Desert of Desolation
I11 Needle
I12 Egg of the Phoenix
I13 Adventure Pack I
IM2 The Wrath of Olympus
IM3 The Best of Intentions
M4 Five Coins for a Kingdom
M5 Talons of Night
N5 Under Illefarn
OA3 Ochimo: The Spirit Warrior
OA4 Blood of the Yakuza
S1-4 Realms of Horror (re-print)
X12 Skarda’s Mirror
X13 Crown of Ancient Glory

1988:
Hardbacks: Masks of Nyarlathotep has often been called the greatest adventure ever
Greyhawk Adventures written for any roleplaying game and such praise is not undeserved.
Published in 1984 for Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu, Masks might be called
Boxed Sets: “an Adventure Path done right.” Starting with a scenario set in New York
City System (orange box Waterdeep set) City, when an old friend of the Investigators asks for assistance shortly
before his suspicious murder, the adventure soon takes on global
Accessories: proportions, with clues pointing to London, Cairo, Kenya, and Shanghai.
DM’s Design Kit In each city, the Investigators gather more clues about the actions of a
FR3 Empires of the Sands cult dedicated to the Crawling Chaos and seeking to usher in the reign of
FR4 The Magister the Great Old Ones upon the Earth.
FR5 The Savage Frontier
FR6 Dreams of the Red Wizards Two things, in my opinion, make Masks stand out. First, once the New
GAZ5 The Elves of Alfhiem York scenario is completed, there is no single “right” way to proceed. The
GAZ6 The Dwarves of Rockhome players may choose to pursue any of the clues they’ve amassed anywhere
GAZ7 The Northern Reaches around the world. There’s no expectation that the London scenario will
GAZ8 The Five Shires immediately follow the New York one, for example. This gives a great
GAZ9 The Minrothad Guilds deal of freedom to the players, something that’s essential in investigative
GAZ10 The Orcs of Thar scenarios if they’re to avoid feeling like railroads. Second, while there is a
REF5 Lords of Darkness “ticking clock” to keep the Investigators moving briskly to defeat the cult
of Nyarlathotep, it’s a long enough one that they can afford to take their

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net 19 September 2009

time and undertake their investigations thoroughly. As in most Call of ROGUE FEED
Cthulhu adventures, it pays to be methodical and hunt down every scrap
of information you can get your hands on. Knowledge is more than Miniatures Contest
power; it’s the key to life and death. SEP 08, 2009 07:24P.M.

Of course, the flexibility and open-endedness of Masks comes with a
price: it’s a very complex adventure for the Keeper to run. There are five
different “main” scenarios in total, each of which includes many minor
and side adventures the players might choose to undertake. Likewise, the
interconnections between the scenarios, as well as with the overall
arching plot of the cultists, are many and take some effort to keep
straight. There are dozens of NPCs too, most of whom have secrets of
their own. The end result is a massive, occasionally bewildering
adventure that, if handled properly, is arguably one of the most
interesting adventures the hobby has ever produced and certainly one of
the best ever produced for Call of Cthulhu. Handled by an inexperienced
or untalented Keeper, though, Masks is likely a recipe for disaster.
Still, I count myself among the many admirers of this adventure. I called
it an “Adventure Path done right” above and I firmly believe that. Rather
than having a single path from scenario to scenario, players are free to
take whatever route they deem best. Investigative scenarios are very
prone to railroading and often founder on a single undiscovered clue. By
providing such an open-ended structure, players won’t feel as if their
actions are dictated by the plot nor should they run into many brick
walls. Consequently, Masks has an almost sandbox-like quality to it,
making it superior to most other Call of Cthulhu offerings, including
Shadows of Yog-Sothoth. It’s a very demanding format, both to produce
and to run, which is why I suspect so few products have followed in its
footsteps. That’s a pity, because Masks ably takes full advantage of all the
qualities that make roleplaying games unlike most other forms of
entertainment, most especially the ability of the referee to improvise
based on what he already knows about the overall scenario.
Center Stage Miniatures has licensed the right to produce Swords &
Wizardry miniatures, and they are running a contest for Knockspell
Magazine readers! Write up the best new monster and Center Stage will
sculpt it and put it into their Swords & Wizardry line. Here are the rules:
(1) it has to be a monster; (2) it has to be roughly human-sized; (3) the
description has to be in Swords & Wizardry format; (4) the winner has to
sign a contract allowing Center Stage to produce the minis for as long as
they want to. There’s not a money prize, but it isn’t every day you get to
see one of your own creations immortalized in metal.
How to enter the contest: send your monster description, in Swords &
Wizardry format, to centerstagehobbies@yahoo.com, attention Matt
Solarz, who is the president of Center Stage Miniatures. Center Stage will
judge the entries, and the winning entry will be sculpted and sold in the
Swords & Wizardry line of miniatures, as well as being published in the
magazine. The monster description will also be printed on the packaging
for the miniature, with your name as author.
The first contest runs from September 1, 2009 until December 31, 2009.
Fire up your creativity and make some monsters!

If I have any real complaints about Masks of Nyarlathotep it’s that, like
so many Call of Cthulhu adventures, it doesn’t feel particularly
Lovecraftian. Sure, the bad guys serve Nyarlathotep and there are lots of
Mythos-related tomes and creatures to be encountered, but the whole
things feels more like a pulp serial or an Indiana Jones movie than an
exercise in cosmic horror. I’m willing to overlook that, since I’m not
convinced that cosmic horror would actually be all that fun to play and
because Masks is such a brilliant adventure in its own right, so brilliant
that, it’s definitely deserving of the accolades it receives in many
quarters. Is it the best adventure ever written? That’s really hard to say,
since tastes — even my own — vary, but it’s without a doubt in
contention for the title and well worth a look if you’ve never had the
chance to do so.

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