How It Begins & How It Ends

Reflections On A Revolutionary Game

Once upon a time, long, long ago ... 

I love the sense of wonder and "let's pretend" this phrase evokes. It was typed by a master story-teller named Gary Gygax, who was in turn inspired by the genius of Dave Arneson. It recreates childhood play sessions of knights fighting dragons, cowboys exploring the Old West, and Superman flying in to save the day. It was the perfect introduction.

Fight on! 

This tells us the story doesn't end here! Maybe a hero fell, perhaps this is the end and another will step forward to take his place. Or maybe, just maybe this is not the end for that hero but merely a setback. It's fantasy, anything can happen.



 

III: 4 & 5: Wicked, Tricksy, Trapsy Referee, Annotated

Page 4-5

 

The second map we are presented with is a sample level but we feel this is a misnomer. It is more of a map containing a sampling of … well … samples. It does illustrate some rather important principles, though these may not be explicitly stated. Numbers here correspond to the numbered points on page 5. 

 

1. A map-based puzzle maze. The only way to exit is to solve the puzzle. Only … how did the players end up there in the first place? A myriad of options present to the imagination, but none are listed in the text.
2. Another maze with a secret exit. Besides the threat of wandering monsters, a very real one as we will learn later, four ogres lurk in the heart of this maze.
3. An area specifically designed to confound mappers. As if the mazes were not enough. An interesting entry in light of the current mode of thinking regarding making the adventure as easy on the player-characters as possible. No, here we see the referee doing the opposite.
4. A slide trap to a lower level, and a room with corridors designed to funnel the players into an encounter with a basilisk.
5. A nasty set of traps and unless you’re out to get your players it is not suggested for actual use (emphasis added). This one includes an unnoticed trip to a lower level, a transporter to wherever the referee imagines such as the center of the earth, and a transporter creating the illusion of an endless corridor.
6. A clever shifting wall trap that may also be applied to staircases.
7. A nice modular area designed to give players and mappers fits.
8. Another encounter area leading to some evil man in one area and a true troll or two perhaps in another. We feel the original version of this area was bit easier to understand, having the tunnel more clearly delineated. Subsequent printings changed the white background to black and this detail was obscured in those printings (though it is mentioned in the text).

Diving Into Volume III, Page 3 Annotated

Page 3

 

The Underworld

 

The Sample Cross Section of Levels, while helpful, in our opinion was fully realized on page 39 of Dr. Holmes’ Basic Dungeons & Dragons rule book (the so-called “blue book”). Both simple drawings, and both did a good job of providing a framework for the imagination. As simple as it was, the blue book version with its great stone skull and domed cavern city was just inspiring.

II-39: Brother? Can You Spare A Copper Piece? Annotated

Page 39

 

Treasure

 

Precious Metals: the text implies copper, silver, and gold pieces are standard coinage. Then it goes on to detail electrum and platinum, leaving one to wonder if these were always intended to be a part of the system or was it an example from Arneson’s or Gygax’s campaigns. 

Gems: with some lucky die rolls a gem’s value can reach significant levels. 

Jewelry: does not increase with value by random die roll as do gems, though we ourselves wrote a house rule extending jewelry value in like manner.

II-38: So ... How Many Years Of Bad Luck If You Break A Magic Mirror? Annotated

Page 38

 

Mirror of Life Trapping: references bucklers, though the various shield types are never really delineated within these rules. This is a trivial point, what we should like to point out is the hidden rule about gaze attacks. 

Hidden Rule: the description for looking into this item and falling victim to it gives a very good guideline for any gaze attacks: If it is openly displayed there is a 90% chance an unsuspecting creature will look full within it and be trapped. There is only a 10% chance a knowing person will be unable to avoid looking into it. Stumbling upon Medusa unprepared gives a 90% chance of meeting her gaze, if you’re ready you have a 1 in 10 of meeting her eyes and getting “stoned.” 

Magical Item Saving Throws: if your PC survives the attack so do the magic items survive with the exception of magic helms not a part of a fighter’s magic armor. Easy as pie. 

Artifacts: these are teased but not otherwise expanded upon. To be sure, enough information is provided to spur the imagination of a good referee. Science fiction and fantasy writers such as Moorcock, Burroughs, Howard, Alan Dean Foster, and others; provide many good examples.

II-37: Give 'Em The (Magic) Boot, Annotated

Page 37

 

Boots of Speed: here we see the again one hand giving and the other hand taking away. These boots are quite useful but this utility is offset by the following refractory period of one day. While not every item is so balanced, this is a common theme seen within these pages. 

Hidden Rule: how often does a monster strike at an unprotected head? On this page we find a guideline. It (the magic helm) does not protect in the same way as Magic Armor, so if it is worn in combat any hit upon its wearer should be given a 10% of striking the helm and smashing it (parenthetical comment added).

II-36: Misc. Magic, Annotated

Page 36

 

Miscellaneous Magic: introduces some classic magic items from literature and lore into the game. These include crystal balls and flying carpets, again serving as the seed for referees to use their favorite books and movies as inspiration for magic in their games. 

 

Bag of Holding: a good workaround for encumbrance issues. We always harbored the secret belief EGG stole this idea not from luggage from Pratchett’s Discworld series but instead from the Disney’s Mary Poppins movie. We have no evidence to cite in support of this theory, just a gut feeling based upon us being raised in the same era and liking the same sorts of books and movies. 

 

Displacer Cloak: which came first, one may wonder, this cloak or the displacer beast in EGG’s Greyhawk campaign?