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I s s u e 9 F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 3

THE ORIGINAL DUNGEONS & DRAGONS FANZINE

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OD&DITIES

29OD&DITIES � The Original D&D FanzineIssue 9 - February 2002

Intentionally left blank

2................................................................................EditorialMy regular rant … R. E. B. Tongue

2..........................................................Letters to the EditorThe readers' comments.

3...................................................................Getting StartedOur continuing series on starting a new OD&D campaign. R. E. B. Tongue

3 ............................................Compendium of CharactersTwo exotic NPC's for your campaign. R. E. B. Tongue

4.................................................................Governing GodsA collection of deities with a differenc e. Guy Robinson

5............................................................................First StrikeWho goes first: the fighter or the Orc? Erin D. Smale

6..................................Street of a Thousan d AdventuresA resting place for the sorcerous. Geoff Gander

7........................................................Some Enchanted ItemThe start of a new column on magical items. Erin D. Smale

8 ..........................An Interview with Gary Gygax, Part IAn interview with the unquestioned father of RPGs. Ciro Alessandro Sacco

15 ........................................................Comba t sans MatrixStreamlining combat in OD&D. Erin D. Smale

18..............................................The World of Herol, Part IThe first part of a new campaign world for OD&D. Carl Quaif

Dungeons and Dragons is owned by Wizards of the Coast and it’s use here is not intended as a challenge to their owner-ship of that copyright. All materials are used here without their permission.

All other material copyright© R.E.B. Tongue unless credited to another author.

ODDITIESTHE ORIGINAL DUNGEONS & DRAGONS FANZINE

EditorRichard Tongue

LayoutJesse Walker

ContributorsRichard TongueGuy RobinsonErin D. SmaleGeoff Gander

Ciro Alessandro SaccoCarl Quaif

Cover ArtJeremy Simmons

Interior ArtJesse Walker

Onlinewww.tongue.fsnet.co.uk

Issue 9February 2003

THE ORIGINAL DUNGEONS & DRAGONS FANZINE

'2 ',7,(6

Hi! First of all, let me present myself: I'm a28-years old italian RPG player. I'll playOD&D since the age of 13, which meansthat more than half of my life was devotedto this beatiful game. During these long years, I've obviouslyred, mastered and played many otherRPGs - from AD&D (1st, 2nd and 3rdedition) to Tunnels & Trolls, MERP,Rolemaster, Stormbringer, Runequest,Chivalry & Sorcery, plus some otherItalian-made games as Katakumbas or ICavalieri del Tempio (Temple's Knights is arough translation in English) which I thinkwere never published in UK or USA. I'vealso enjoyed many solo adventure books(one for all, the Lonewolf series, or thewonderful Warlock of Fire Mountain) andsome other fantasy boardgames asTalisman, Dungeonquest, Heroquest andAdvanced Heroquest, Willow and Warlockof Fire Mountain. Now, finished with thisboring list, I wrote to you just to make mycompliments for your great work in keepingalive OD&D, which I simply consider the

best RPG ever made - both for his flexibilityand simplicity. I must admit that I'm also a"collector" of OD&D material - I've almostall the material ever published (amongstthe others the complete GAZ series, nearlyall adventure modules, all boxed sets, plusthe "legendary" white box and the first foursupplements). I tried over the time to playsome campaigns both using the RulesCyclopedia and the Gazetteer series, andeven the white boxed set - but unluckilyhere there is a great lack of players - tocontinue playing I'm literally forced to playD&D 3E (not too bad, but the atmospherecreated by OD&D is another thing!) andsome other minor RPGs (like Vampire orMage, too bad!). I stumbled across yoursite and fanzine by sheer luck, and I enjoy-ed it very much - good articles, interestingreviews of products, playable adventuresand very good rules and character classadd-ons. In brief, I loved it - especially nowthat Dragon and Dungeon are completely(and sadly) entirely devoted to 3E. I blame WotC for letting OD&D die - itwas the greatest mistake they can ever do.

I know that now "new" players wants onlyWorld of Darkness and similar, but I think that all those new games simply have lostthe original spirit and flavour of OD&Dgame. This is why I try always to get myfriends involved in an OD&D campaignplay. If I find some time I will also like tosubmit some articles - I've createdthousand of home rules in those years ofplaying and I wish to share it with otherfans. Actually, I'm working for same Italianfanzines and submitting some material toKen St. Andre (the creator of Tunnels andTrolls) who is getting published in thisdays. So, just keep up the good work andcontinue to keep high the OD&D vessel,there will ever be some "old time" fans likeme that will appreciate your efforts. Sorryfor the length of this letter and for my poorEnglish, and thank you again.

Tosatt Earp

Thanks for the letter – most appreciated as always! I think your English is prettygood. I certainly agree that there is adanger of the flavour of the older gamesbeing lost in new editions, that's why Ibegan OD&DITIES in the first place, tohelp preserve it. I'm glad you likeOD&DITIES, it's always great to hear that it is being used. Feel free to send in yoursubmissions, as many as you like.

�

Editorial


Editorial Well, welcome to the first issue of OD&DITIES for the New Year. Issue Nine. I think it is possible to say, without fear of contra-diction, that this is the best issue yet. The first half of an interview with Gary Gygax, the first part of a new campaign setting, thisissue is packed full of goodies. The response this issue has been excellent, with more articles coming in that we could squeezeinto this issue – but please, please keep them coming in! I would like to apologise to all of those whose articles simply would not fitin this issue – but they will all see publication soon, I assure you! At the moment, Issue 10 is planned for late March, deadline forthe Tenth, so get those submissions in! Artwork too, please cover and internal – and thanks to the excellent Jeremy Simmons forthe piece gracing this issue's cover. I would just like to apologize in advance for the necessity of publishing in two parts. It is not something I like to do as a rule –I'm sure it will prove a source of some frustration to our readers, I know it would for me. However, these two articles, the Gygaxinterview and the World of Herol, both struck me as perfect for OD&DITIES, but were just too long for one issue. Rather than holdone back, I decided to run them in parts. I would also like to apologize to Scott Casper, who was incorrectly credited as ScottGasper in Issue Eight – sorry, Scott! The Guild of OD&D passed a milestone recently – with a hundred members. It has really turned into an excellent list – I urgeyou all to take a look at it. A real community is building there, something that was not present a few years ago. It just goes to showthat there is still plenty of life in OD&D. In other news, OD&DITIES is up for an award! We're in the nominations for the Origins awards this year, under BestRoleplaying Magazine. So please, please, register your vote at once. Right now! The issue will still be there when you get back!Seriously, please vote, and cross your fingers for us. More details to follow in Issue Ten.

5LFKDUG�7RQJXH Editor, OD&DITIES

Letters to the EditorPlease keep those letters coming in, as usual to [email protected]!

R. E. B. Tongue

Well, over the last few instalments we havecreated a campaign setting, and workedout the framework of an epic campaign.Epic campaigns can be excellent for bothbeginning and advanced players, and ifthey are successful, your players will betalking about them for years to come. If youare trying to introduce some new people toD&D, then this is an excellent way to do it.However, it must be said that having onlythe epic campaign theme can lead to aone-note campaign, a campaign fixed inone mould only. Players may come toexpect the same plotlines every week (Notthe evil Dark Lord/Evil Undead/foul Orcsagain!). The simple way to combat this is tointroduce sub-plots, and one-off advent-ures into the campaign thread, elementsthat do not contribute to the overall storybut still add to the experience for theplayers. One-off adventures are thesimplest to introduce, and can be on any

number of themes. A dungeon is discover-ed that the PC's are able to investigate, ora group of bandits starts operating in thewoods, and the PC's are hired to removethem. These should not be a part of thecampaign arc, but can contribute to it, andshould draw from the progression of thecampaign. For example, a group of PCsbefriending a local lord will likely be askedto provide assistance with variousproblems faced by their new benefactor. These one-shot adventures should bevery specific in their nature, either tied to alocation or a single person. Examples ofthis could include clearing out a smalldungeon, curing the lycanthropy of thelord's wife, rescuing a kidnapped child froma tribe of wild elves, or exploring anenchanted mountain pass. Keep theseplots simple to work out – they will form abreak in the campaign for the PC's, and theplayers. It is advised that it should be fairlyobvious that these are not connected to themain plot, as paranoid PC's will often seeconspiracies wherever they go. The sub-plot is a different type ofanimal completely. This is a continuing

thread throughout other adventures, eitherrunning through the whole adventure of justfor a short time. These can be much morecomplicated and intricate. Whereas one-shots were connected to a specific locationor person, these sub-plots should beconnected to an individual PC, and shouldbe much more story oriented. (As such, it isrecommended that all of the PC's shouldhave an individual sub-plot at some point.) These plots should involve either thebackground or the personality of the PC.Optionally, the player himself can beconsulted with such elements. An exampleof this type of sub-plot would be finding aPC's long-lost sister, who was kidnappedby pirates many years ago. (As a twist, sheis now the leader of the pirates, and thefact that she is the long-lost sister will notbe immediately apparent.) Alternatively, theDM can come up with such elements onhis own. For example, he can have aMagic-User PC learn of an ancient spellbook of a long-dead wizard, which couldlead to a long quest to find it, in betweenother adventuring. It can be as mundaneas one of the PC's deciding to take over alocal Inn, or as complicated as finding alost golden dragon egg by the light of thenew moon on the Plains of Gehenna. Theidea is to engage the PC's on a differentlevel, to promote greater individualrole-playing than a group campaign willsometimes allow. �

Getting Started


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R. E. B. Tongue

The characters covered in this issue'sCompendium are strangers, represent-atives of other cultures. Although thepractice should not be common, adding arepresentative of a culture not otherwisefound in your campaign world should notbe frowned upon, quite the reverse.Having, say, a 'Samurai' arrive at the castleof King Arthur could make for someinteresting experiences, though it shouldbe kept in moderation. The pair described

below could add such an exotic element toyour campaign. Basic statistics andsignature equipment are described, as wellas notes on personality and background.

Kirika4th level Lawful FighterStr: 14, Dex: 18, Con: 13, Int: 9, Wis: 13,Cha: 12, HP: 22, AC: 3, Blowgun (6 poisondarts, Save vs. Poison or die), Club,Leather Armour + 1

Kirika is a representative of a cultureliving in the jungles of a far-away land. Hewas a noble of his people, who would have

been the leader of his tribe. However, thelocal witch doctor despised him, andsought power for himself, and so Kirikawas sold to a group of slavers. Uponarrival, he managed to escape by jumpingover the side of the boat, and barelyreached the coast. The strange new worldhe found himself in fascinated him, and hehas decided to learn what he can from it –before returning home to seek vengeanceand regain that which was stolen from him.Kirika is extremely inquisitive about allmanner of things, but particularly craftssuch as metalworking – he will seek tolearn about metal tools whenever possible.His courage is unbounded, but he has afear of magic, especially those that influe-nce people against their will. He is seekingmoney to finance a return to his landacross the ocean, and also he seeks braveadventurers to accompany him. The PC'scould be the ones who find him, and teachhim of their land, or they could be hired byKirika to return with him to his tribe.

Continued on page 27 ...

Compendiumof Characters

government can makeexcellent themes fromgods, especially if thesegods are generally mortalsbefore they became gods.Who better to deify thannotable figures that broughtabout great changes,innovations or order in theirlives? All references to realpeople living, dead orundead is completelyaccidental in this article,honest.

HearthChaotic God of Families and Feuds

A primal god of basic governance, Hearthlaid down the principles that the only rightof ruler-ship and justice lies in the family orextended clan. Followers believe thatwrongs should be righted through theexecution of feuds between the families ofthe offender and the offended. Hearth ritesinclude the adoption of a stranger into afamily or clan, marriages and formaldeclarations of vengeance and strife.

FiefNeutral God of Feudalism and Oaths

Said to be a son of Hearth, Fief is the godwho set out the principle of feudal govern-ment while he was mortal. This shifted thefocus from families to hierarchies of power,obligation and defence that start to definediffering social classes. Feudal governmenthas become the norm for many countriesand Fief's rites are used to establish andmaintain balance within these societies.

RegalLawful God of Monarchy

As the first legendary king, Regal is thedeified embodiment of the principles ofkingship. He is said to have a daughter foreach true kingdom and these figures ofSovereignty personally watch over thesuccession from one monarch to another.These kings and queens tend to headestablish states, backed by Regal'sauthority. Royal capitals generally feature atemple to Regal as large and as prestigiousas the monarch can afford. People seekingto become kings generally are wise to buildsuch a temple and staff it with Regal'spriests before proclaiming themselves so.

RedkenLawful God of Socialism and Newts

A relatively later god, Redken is a godwhose priests can be found among thelower classes, as defined by the doctrinesof other gods of governance. His role is toencourage people to support and strength-en these people and as such his priestsare often involved in considerable works ofcharity. Socialist Paladins dedicated toRedken are often found, in times, of warsupporting conscript units. In such a rolethey often restrict their armour and weap-ons to the median equipment borne bytheir units, excepting when they havepotent magical items that could best beapplied to the furtherance of the unit'smilitary success.

DemosNeutral God of Democracy and Rumours

A less popular god, Demos seeks toadvocate principles of democracy that areappropriate to the wealth, education statusand population size of a government. Theyseek a balance – sometimes recommend-ing that democracy be scaled back until acountry is ready for it. Generally priest ofDemos seek to ensure that people who arefit to decide and express personally theirown views influence government.

The Iron LadyChaotic Goddess of Commerce and Choice

A goddess popular with merchants and therich, the Iron Lady stands for better govern-ment through freedom for all in the waythey spend their wealth. This is held by herpriests to benefit the whole of society, eventhe poorest that have the least ability tochose under such a system. She is also agoddess of rain, which her priests use as ametaphor of the benefit of wealth to allthrough the "trickle down" effect.

HattonChaotic God of Revolution

A god supported by those that seekchange, Hatton is the god of revolution andviolent changes. His priests travel through-out the land seeking to encourage populat-ion to seek a "better" form of government.Generally thought they always seem toadvocate a form different to the one currentone that is in place. They are unafraid toadvocate war and espionage to furthertheir goals, which are not coordinated at all– often drawing fellow priests into confront-ations with each other. �

Governing Gods


��AH7D@;@9�� A6E Guy Robinson hen people design pantheons for OD&Dpeople can often forgethow different forms of/

JW

The Iron Lady

Introduction Determining combat initiative in theofficial OD&D rules is a straightforwardmatter: every round, each side rolls 1d6,and the side with the highest result goesfirst (RC/102). Optionally, the DM mayallow for individual initiative using the same1d6 method, perhaps further granting thatthe die result is modified by the combat-ant's Dexterity score. Like most other rulesin OD&D, the system is easy to learn andquick to use, but somewhat short onrealism. Not that the system needs to betrashed, but it could stand the influx ofsome tension—something to make deter-mining initiative more than a simple back-and-forth routine of d6 tosses. This articlesuggests an alternative initiative systemthat maintains the random element of a dieroll while making realistic allowances forcombatant ability. In the process, thesystem allows a granulated view of theindividual actions taken during an chaoticcombat round.

Determining Initiative As in the official rules, initiative isdetermined at the start of every combatround, but is arbitrated via 1d12 rolled byeach combatant. In all cases, the d12result is modified by the combatant'sInitiative Rating (IR), a relatively staticmodifier (see below) that reflects circum-stantial conditions such as Dexterity,weapon size, attacker size, and attacktype. The actual initiative result, then, is thed12 roll plus the combatant's IR.

Once initiative is determined, combatactions may begin, starting with thecombatant who possesses the highestinitiative result, whose action is resolvedimmediately. The combatant with the nextlowest initiative result resolves his actionnext, then the combatant with the nextlowest initiative result, and so on. Because actions occur in "real time" (i.e., they areresolved immediately in the order of high-est initiative results to lowest), it is possiblefor a slow combatant to be knocked out ofa fight or incapacitated before he can act.Regardless of the actual initiative results,the numeric difference between initiativeresults of different combatants, or howmany combatants are in the fight, all comb-at actions occur in the same combat round(unless an action chosen normally consum-es more than one round). Remember that a

combatant may move up to his encounterspeed and still attack (RC/103). While thesystem works best with individual initiativerolls, and individual PCs should always rolltheir own initiative, the DM may allow groupinitiative rolls if the number of PC foes isunwieldy. For example, if a party of fourPCs encounters an ogre and five orcs,each of the PCs would roll their own initiat-ive and the DM could probably manage thesix initiative rolls for the ogre and the orcs.If the same party encounters a pack of 14giant rats herded by 3 kobold guards,however, the DM would probably makeonly two initiative rolls: one for the rats andone for the kobolds.

Initiative Rating A combatant's Initiative Rating (IR) is areflection of how rapidly he may act duringa combat round. As such, IR reflects weap-on skill, size, Dexterity, and attack mode.Typical modifiers are shown on Table 1; allare cumulative:

For convenience and easy look-ups,players and DMs should note beforehand acombatant's IR for size and dexterity. Thisway, the number is always handy as a"permanent" modifier to initiative rolls, to befurther modified by attack type or combataction chosen. Below are some examples, using the IRmodifiers above:

Human Fighter with DEX 13 and Skilledmastery in the short sword: IR = +3 [+0(Medium attacker) +1 (DEX adj.) +0(Skilled mastery) +2 (weapon size) = +3]

Human Fighter, as above, swapping hisshort sword for a halberd (BA mastery):IR = -6 [+0 (Medium attacker) +1 (DEXadj.) -2 (Basic mastery) -3 (weapon size)-2 (changing weapon) = -6]


First Strike


Table 1: Initiative Rating

- spell levelCast Spell-3Weapon Size: Lvar.Dexterity Adjustment0Weapon Size: M

-1Magic Item Use2Weapon Size: S-2Changed Weapon3Weapon Mastery: GM

-4Attacker Size: G2Weapon Mastery: MS

-2Attacker Size: L1Weapon Mastery: EX0Attacker Size: M0Weapon Mastery: SK

3Attacker Size: S-2Weapon Mastery: BA5Attacker Size: T-4Weapon Mastery: UN

ModifierConditionModifierCondition

�5XABC�BCAX:4

How to get thejump on initiative rolls

in OD&D Combat

Erin D. Smale

his expansive, one-storeybrick building sits at a quietintersection. The establish-ment's tall, narrow windowsare bracketed with brightly

painted shutters, and beneath each one isa flower box filled with violets, pansies, andforget-me-nots. The stout, oak door,painted a brilliant sky blue, is decoratedwith an ornate bell-pull (whose chimeswere hand-crafted in Ochalea), but regularpatrons know enough to just walk in. Inside, the wood-panelled walls havebeen stained to a honey-brown colour, andat regular intervals there are small, tastefulpaintings of country scenes, and mountedshelves holding anywhere from one to fourbooks, most of which show signs of use.Interspersed among the shelves arecarvings of dragons, pegasi, griffons, andother fantastic beasts, all of which holdfist-sized glass spheres – these providemagical light after the sun sets, and theirgentle golden glow produces a cheeryatmosphere. The floor of the main room,which takes up about half of the building, iscovered with a great carpet, whosespiraling patterns are a veritable riot ofcolour (a gift from an Ylari emir). Scatteredthroughout this room are numerous tablesand chairs, all of which, though in goodcondition, show obvious signs of heavy useover the years. At the far end of the roomis a long counter and a handful of stools,behind which is a simple door. Martigan's Rest is open from 6:00 amto midnight, seven days a week. Theproprietor, an average-looking, fortyishwoman who calls herself Martigan, decidedto open a casual lounge where those of herprofession – magic users – mightcongregate for tea, coffee, liqueurs, andother reasonably priced light fare while sharing news, spells, and otherinformation. Non-spellcasters are of course welcome (their money is as good asanyone else's), but those who know aboutMartigan's preferred clientele tend to stayaway. Martigan herself is a very pleasant

woman, who will think nothing of taking a half hour or more to chat with newcomersabout her business, sights to see in thecity, and any rumours that she thinks theymight be interested in hearing; her capableassistants, two young women named Aldeaand Catherine, are more than capable ofhandling the patrons if their employer isoccupied (they are both low-level magicusers, though they will not reveal theirabilities unless an emergency arises). Although Martigan does not advertise,her establishment is known to travelingmages far and wide, and most of what issaid about her business is positive.Martigan's Rest is known as a comfortablerest stop, a place where wizards and theircompanions may relax for a few hours.There are only two rules that Martiganenforces – patrons must not duel on thepremises, and they may not solicitbusiness from other patrons, unless invitedby that person to sit with them first. Failureto comply with the first rule will result inbanishment for life; violation of the secondrule result in banishment for at least oneyear – no exceptions. This is to ensurethat those who wish to enjoy a few hours ofsafety and solitude will get it. In all theyears Martigan's Rest has been open,there have been no duels, and only oneperson was thrown out for soliciting. Martigan herself is a veritable fount ofinformation about local history, and shetraveled extensively in her youth, such that,if presented with a strange object, she hasa fair chance of identifying it. Also, thebooks in the main room may contain lorethat might be of interest to the PCs –Martigan is more than willing to sell one ofthem, should she be asked about them. In this case, the DM should decidebeforehand what the books are about, butsome sample titles are below:

"The Habitat and Customs of the Green Dragon", by Thurmond Redbeard.

"Alchemy Made Easy", by Giovanni Storti.

"Legends of the Sea of Dread", by Julius Severnus.

"The Cult of the Black Worm", by anon.

"The Rise and Fall of the Eastwind Dynasty", by Edwin Linton.

The remainder of the building, whichpatrons are not permitted to see, consistsof the kitchen (accessible through the doorbehind the counter), where Martigan andher employees prepare the food that isserved, as well as living quarters for thethree women (all comfortably appointedrooms), a small indoor privy, and a narrowstaircase leading down to a root cellar. Inthe cellar, Martigan keeps several sacks ofpotatoes, apples, and other perishablesthat can be placed in cold storage. Hiddenaway in one corner is a small wine rack,containing vintages from around the KnownWorld.

Adventure Hooks�

Martigan's Rest is a good place foradventuring parties to acquire informationabout legends, which may turn intoopportunities for adventure. As mentionedabove, Martigan herself is an excellentsource of such information, and, providedthe PCs behave themselves, she willprovide it free of charge; frequent patronswill find her more forthcoming about suchthings, of course. Regardless, polite PCswill find Martigan's Rest to be a convenientsanctuary, if only for a few hours.�

Low- to medium-level PC magic userswill also benefit from the informalspellcasters market that exists here; ifinvited to join another mage at his or hertable, PCs may be able to buy, sell, ortrade spells, and obtain information aboutnew areas of research. Prices, and whatconstitutes a "fair exchange", are bestdetermined through reaction rolls, androleplaying. If a PC magic user plays his orher cards right, they may end up with amentor for a time.


Street of a Thousand Adventures

6OD&DITIES The Original D&D FanzineIssue 9 - February 2003

Street of a Thousand Adventures:

ar tigan’s est � �Geoff Gander

�

History Hither and Yon were commissioned acentury ago by one Elbrolac, a cold,ruthless assassin for hire operating fromthe free city of Port Jansor. Elbrolac,known also as Jansor's Scourge, slew noless than three score minor nobles and wellknown politicians during his short butpestilent career. In what some posit a bidto incite war with neighbouring Nadoria,Elbrolac was hired to commit a wave ofpolitically motivated slayings in which hewielded Hither and Yon with a deadlyefficiency that culminated in the boldmurder of Port Jansor's popular LordMayor. The assassination incited unanticipatedoutrage, and Elbrolac, who sought to fleePort Jansor, was foiled through therenewed vigour of the local constabularyand his betrayal by other underworldfigures who believed that Jansor's Scourgehad finally gone too far. Within a week ofthe Lord Mayor's death, Elbrolac wasrooted out and summarily sentenced todeath. The Silent Square within Port Jansor'sFounding District is so named for Elbrolac'sexecution, for while he was set on a pyrefuelled by Elemental flame, he uttered nota sound of protest, spite, or agony whilsthe burned, instead fixing his gaze firmlyupon a rising sun of full, radiant glory.Elbrolac's ashes were left to wash away inthe rain, and his fearsome blades weresequestered in the City Treasury. During arobbery some 25 years ago, the bladeswere stolen—amongst other treasures—bywhat most believe to be remnants ofElbrolac's now dormant sect. No account oftheir use has surfaced, and their presentlocation is today unknown.

Appearance and Powers Hither is a short sword +2 with a wornhandle and nicked blade that radiates afaint crimson light when foes of the wielderare within 50'; its leather scabbard, wornand cracked, bears an Auld Common runicinscription: "Outward from Within doth thisDeath-ward blade flow." Yon is a throwingdagger of returning +1 that, as itscompanion, appears well used, but returnsunerringly to its wielder if an intendedtarget is missed. These respective powersfunction if either blade is possessed. If athief of any alignment owns both and drawsthem in combat, the thief gains a +1 "to-hit"bonus on any backstab attempt as well asa +1 AC bonus from the automatic parryingeffect of either blade in motion.

Adventure Hooks The twain blades Hither and Yon mayspawn any of the following adventures:

Elbrolac's sect is still active and indeedpossesses the blades; it is possible thatan encounter with the sect features thetwain. If the PCs run afoul of the sect, itis certain that Hither and Yon will beused in an attempt on their lives, whichmay grant witness to some measure ofthe blades' powers (whetting, no doubt,the appetite of any PC thief).

News that one of the PCs owns the pairreaches Elbrolac's sect, which sendsout some muscle to reclaim the blades.If these thugs are defeated, the sectsends progressively stronger bountyhunters to divest the PC of the pair.

One of the blades is stolen or lost, andthe (N)PC owner naturally wants itreturned (since both are required for full

effect). While the PCs are hunting forthe missing blade, the original thiefattempts to steal the other.

The (N)PC owner of the blades is losingsleep, haunted by nightmares populatedby the spirits of those slain by Elbrolac.At first, no obvious connection betweenthe nightmares and the weapons exists,but the longer the owner possesses anduses the blades, the more alarming thedreams become. Eventually, the ownersees sad and angry spirits during wak-ing hours, suffering constant tormentuntil the blades are either destroyed orthe spirits are mollified.

As above, but the nightmares featureElbrolac, who disapproves of the currentowner. The nightmares and visions stoponly after the PCs find the Elbrolac'stomb, constructed in the sewers benea-th Port Jansor's Silent Square by loyalsect members after Elbrolac's execut-ion. Of course, Elbrolac's undead formmust be defeated to stop the visions.

Some Enchanted Item


Some Enchanted ItemHither and Yon: A mated pair of nefarious blades

Erin D. Smale

Some Enchanted Item features a unique magic item in each issue of OD&DITIES, complete with a loosehistorical context that may be adapted easily to any OD&D campaign and adventure hooks wherein the itemitself can be central to game play. In our first instalment, we'll take a look at Hither and Yon, a mated pair of

blades possessing a powerful punch and a dark past.

JW

Hither and Yon

An interview with Gary Gygax


Introduction by Ciro Alessandro Sacco As many, many gamers around the world and especially Italian ones, I have always hoped to havethe privilege to meet Gary Gygax, the co creator of Dungeons & Dragons and creator of the AdvancedDungeons & Dragons game. My hopes were at last satisfied when Gary Gygax came in Italy in 1999,for the Mod Con gaming convention: unfortunately, the large (and growing!) queue of fans eager tohave their D&D products signed by him forced me to avoid any questions (nonetheless I have a D&DBasic Set and a B2 module signed by him!). Then this year on the excellent web site EN World(www.enworld.org) Gary Gygax started a long thread about himself, his projects and everything elsethat might be imagined by gamers. I was extremely pleased to see how easygoing, friendly and access-ible Gary is to his/her fans, so I gathered my courage and finally asked him for an interview, an inter-view that quickly grew in size to seven pages of questions(!) due to the long research in magazines as"White Dwarf", "Dragon", "Space Gamer", catalogues and Gary's biography and bibliography. I want toadd that Gary and myself edited the interview. I'm really proud of this little cooperative effort with theFather of D&D/AD&D and one of the nicest, open and less pretentious people I have ever met in all thefacets of life. The fact he accepted to spend so much time on the interview, despite his busy schedule,it's the best proof of this.

Introduction by Gary Gygax Here I must insert my own introductory comment. The laundry list of questions that follow were notinitially well received by me. What a chore, I thought, as I looked through the lot. Of course many of theinquiries need be answered in greater detail that has been furnished; but the fact is that I have to earn aliving writing, so the time called for to respond fully is just not possible save by being taken in bits andpieces over a period of weeks. Although I have gone to some lengths in several areas to supply as fullan explanation as possible, all things considered, I am not totally satisfied. While I enjoy communica-ting with my fellow gamers, there are limits to the extent I can do so in this sort of interview. If you findmy answers incomplete or unsatisfactory, sorry: I did what time allows just now, as Ciro can't waitforever for my response. Contact him about this and possibly he'll compile another list. Then I willgroan, grumble at him, and eventually answer those new questions too, most likely. Allow me to addthat Mr. Ciro Alessandro Sacco has clearly spent a lot of time researching and preparing his questions.Because of that, I made a greater effort than usual to answer as fully as I was able. Be sure to thankCiro for this, as he deserves lauds for his penetrating questions covering subjects seldom if evertouched on by other interviewers.

Introduction by Richard Tongue I would just like to thank both Ciro and Gary for being allowed to publish this interview, which I thinkis the most complete one I have ever seen, and certainly the most interesting, in OD&DITIES. Theinterview will appear in two parts, the next slated for OD&DITIES Ten. Enjoy!

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Gary Gygax, The Man Does that mean you think I have grownup? Wrong!

Could you please tell us aboutyourself: age, hobbies outside gaming,how did you discover gaming in firstplace and so on?

I was born 27 July 1938 in Chicago,Illinois. It was there that learned to playgames: pinochle at age five and chess atage six. Of course, playing with toysoldiers, "ruleless military miniatures" ifyou will, occupied a good bit of my timethen too, with blocks and Tinker Toysadorning the battlefield. My familyremoved to Lake Geneva in the summerof 1946. Later on there, various boardgames and chess variants were added,while in my teens we tried some simplerules, along with ladyfinger firecrackersfired from Britons cannons, to add someorder to games with toy soldiers. That wasnot a success. Finally, in 1958 I cameupon The Avalon Hill Company's boardwargame, "Gettysburg". That sealed myfate, for thereafter I was a wargamer andeventually a gamer in the larger sense. Hobbies of the past include stampcollecting, tropical fish, small animal keep-ing, hunting, fishing, hiking and camping.Along with reading a fair number of booksof fiction and non-fiction, listening tomusic (classical, blues, Spanish, andmodern jazz the favourites), that prettywell covers my leisure time activities.

I noticed a 'paranormal experiences'section in your biography: do youreally believe in the paranormal?

Of course there is the paranormal. Todeny it is to flout reason. There are thingsthat happen that cannot be explained byany scientific means. Some of that isparanormal. Exactly what is paranormal,what isn't, I'll leave to those who worryabout such things. I do know, for example,that things have happened to me thathave no rational or scientific explanationand those I consider as outside theknown: paranormal.

Reading your biography, I noticed youdid some work in the boardgamingfield, especially for Avalon Hill. Howthis experience started? Was it aninteresting one? Did you attempt to sellD&D to them?

The game you speak of, "Alexanderthe Great", along with another boardwargame, "Dunkirk" (the invasion ofFrance and the Low Countries in 1940),were originally published by a small gamecompany, Guidon, or which you have aquestion abut later on. When thatcompany went out of business, Avalon Hillcontacted me to secure an agreement torevise and publish the Alexander game.As I had been a fan, then became a friendof, Tom Shaw, then the V.P of Avalon Hill,and his assistant was Don Greenwood, agamer I had known for some years viapostal exchange and he being a memberof association I had co-founded, theInternational Federation of Wargamers,working with them was quite pleasant. One of the most satisfying compl-iments I ever received was from one ofthe principals of Game Designer'sWorkshop, that laud in regards to thedetail of the Order of Battle of the forcesinvolved in the "Dunkirk" game. Sinceoriginally designing it, I have done moreresearch, corrected some errors Idiscovered in the German OB, and oneday I would very much like to see thecampaign in play as a computer game. In the summer of 1973, before my oldfriend, Don Kaye, joined me to foundTactical Studies Rules, I did indeed callAvalon Hill and ask if they might beinterested in publishing the game that wasto be known as D&D. They laughed at theidea, turned it down. In 1975 Tom calledback to ask if maybe they could take overpublication. It was my turn to laugh. Afterthat we laughed together about the wholeaffair when we met at various gamingconventions. One last thing. I did another boardwargame, this one published by TSR. In1976 we released my "Little Big Horn"game, the tactical conflict between the 7thCavalry under Lt. Col. George ArmstrongCuster and the various 'Sioux' and alliedIndian tribes. Two other small publisherslikewise introduced their own like gamesat Origins that year, as it was the 100thanniversary of the battle. Of course, allthree companies suffered sales-wise, asinterested gamers were divided. The LBHgame was actually quite accurate, and theCavalry had a fair chance to triumph, justas Custer had hoped — if they stayedtogether and had their pack train withammunition with them. In the same biography I read: "Editor-in-Chief, Guidon Games (publisher of war-gaming rules and wargames)". What kindof company was Guidon Games? An am-ateur publisher or a professional one? DidGuidon Games pay you for your work?

Guidon Games had a game shop, soldgaming via the mail, published amagazine and likewise printed and soldmilitary miniatures rulebooks andboxed board wargames.They weresmall but certainly a legitimatecompany (I dislike using 'professional',as they professed nothing: they were acommercial enterprise). I was paid forthe work I did for them, yes. Unfortunat-ely, sales volume did not make theincome received thus sufficient to domore than supplement income fromother work. I was asked to go to workfor them full time. That would haverequired me to move to the state ofMaine. Tom Wham did so, but I thoughttheir new location was a poor choice.Furthermore, the company was not runin an aggressive and responsivemanner. In my opinion there was nochance for growth and success asthings stood and I said so to Guidon.Sadly, I was correct in my judgement.On the positive side, it was then (1972)that I determined I needed to start myown publishing company. At the time were your various effortsenough to support you and your familyor were you forced to have a 'real job'outside the gaming field?

As noted, I had to do various otherwork after leaving the insurance under-writing and sales field late in 1970. Inorder to have a job where I could work athome, have as much opportunity as poss-ible to devote to game design and writing,I learned shoe repair, acquired the nec-essary equipment and began doing suchtrade from my residence. That was some-thing of a sacrifice, as the sand table inmy basement had to move to make roomfor machinery, but that big table found ahome in Don Kaye's garage. It was notuntil the middle of 1975 that income fromgame-related work was sufficient toprovide my entire income, that moneyneeded to support myself and my family.

How big was the gaming market in the'70s? I gather that Avalon Hill and thenSPI were THE publishers of the agewith a mainly historical line – the firstefforts in the fantasy and SF field seemto start really with the publication of"Godsfire" by Metagaming... Is thiscorrect?

No accurate data regarding the size ofthe consumer audience for boardwargames and military miniatures in the


9OD&DITIES The Original D&D FanzineIssue 9 - February 2003

1960s (when I became active) and in theearly 1970s is known to me. My consider-ed estimate for the consumer audiencethe USA and Canada during that period isfrom 100,000 to 150,000, this including"Diplomacy" game players. Avalon Hillwas far and away the largest publisherback then. SPI eventually moved intosecond place in the early 1970s. As for Metagaming Concepts, I don'trecall them being active before 1975 or1976 (we sold/distributed their productline for a time). D&D was certainly the firstfantasy game that achieved any success,and that was followed by "Traveller" (thefirst big sci-fi role playing game N.d.R.)from GDW. I think it was after the successof D&D that efforts to publish other fanta-sy, SF, and general RPGs were begin. Ofcourse I am going back nearly 30 yearsand my recollection might be faulty…

TSR and the birth of D&D Actually, the D&D game wasconceived and written about a year beforewe formed a partnership, had a companyaimed at publishing it.

Surely this question has been askedyou a zillion times, but, for the benefitof our Italian readers, could you kindlytell it once more? How was D&D born?

I wrote a 50-page manuscript that Ititled "The Fantasy Game" late in 1972.Much of the content of the game wasdrawn straight from "Chainmail - Rules forMedieval Military Miniatures", the"Man-to-Man" and "Fantasy Supplement"portions that I had authored, to be exact.This manuscript was sent in the mail to adozen or so of my wargaming associatedaround the USA for their play testing andfeedback. The reception wasoverwhelming and all positive. In thespring of 1973 I revised the material to150-page length — essentially what wasprinted as the D&D game's three rulesbooklets in January 1974. This draft of thegame was sent out to about 30 peopleand the reaction was so intense that I wassure we had a winning game. As anaside, at that point I thought we would sellat least 50,000 copies to wargamers andfantasy fans. I underestimated theaudience a little… It wasn't until themiddle of 1975 that the true scope of theappeal of the "Dungeons & Dragons"game was understood by me. As to how I conceived and wrote the

game in the first place, that would takemany pages to explain, so I won't go intoit other than to say it was the culminationof more than 30 years of living and doingthat enabled the process.

In your FAQ you write "1973: Gary andDon Kaye form Tactical Studies Rules,an equal partnership" and then "1974:Brian Blume is admitted as an equal(1/3) partner". Did both of you admit anew partner to help financing thepublication of D&D?

As an introductory explanation and amatter of possible interest to yourreaders, Don Kaye was a childhoodfriend. As a boy under age eight, I spentmost of the summer in Lake Geneva. Imet Don there when I was six years old.He was a friend of my usual playmatethere, John Rasch, who lived next door.When my family moved to Lake Genevapermanently, when I was eight, Don was ayear-round buddy. We bicycled, camped,gamed, and generally 'hung out' togetherfrom then on — with a lot of other lads ofcourse. Unlike me, Don was a goodstudent and he encouraged me, withoutmuch success, to pay more attention tostudies. He is greatly missed… Don and I wanted to get the D&Dgame out as soon as possible. If we hadwaited until sales of our one set of militaryminiatures rules, "Cavaliers &Roundheads", generated sufficient funds,it would have been 1975 before we couldpublish.

I know that 1,000 copies of D&D wereinitially produced, the fabled FirstEdition. Is it true that you and yourpartners personally assembled everycopy and then shipped them tocustomers and distributors?

It is absolutely true. We wet and stuck thefront and spine labels on the boxes,collated the reference sheets, folded themand placed them in the box, then collatedthe three booklets, put them in, closed thebox, and set the completed game on ashelf. That goes for the second printing inbrowns boxes also, 2,000 copies run inOctober of 1974. The next run of 3,300was sold in white wrapped pre-printedboxes, but hand assembly was also done,that in the basement of the house I livedin. In fact, I personally toted all thecartons of booklets, 9,000 in all, from thetruck tailgate down into the basementstoreroom. It was a hot June day in 1975that I remember well today.

After that run we found a printer to doall assembly, ran 25,000 late that summerfor delivery to the building we were inprocess of acquiring to house thebusiness.

Regarding distributors, what were yourdistribution channels at the time? Isuppose that wholesalers were mainlyin the historical gaming business –what was their reaction to this newweird game based on fantasy and withno board or counters?

At inception, Tactical Studies Rulessold direct to consumers, shipped togame shops and hobby stores andwholesaled only to three distributors.Interestingly, those three were allmanufacturers of miniature figurines.Those "distributors" ordered in smallquantities, 25s and 50s. In 1975 wepicked up one or two real distributors.Joining the Hobby Industry Association ofAmerica and exhibiting at their annualtrade show in 1976, TSR Hobbies, Inc.then began to establish a regular networkof distributors.

How long did it take to sell these first1,000 copies? What was the feedbackfrom gamers? Is it true that youreceived many phone calls during thenight to clarify some obscure aspect ofthe rules?

The first sale was an individual copy toa gamer and it was mailed off at the endof January. The initial print run of 1,000copies took seven months to sell out —February through September 1974. Wereceived the second printing of the D&Dgame in October 1974, shipped thosebeginning in November. Those were outof stock by May and in June we receivedthe print run of 3,000 copies noted above.Heritage Models did the printing, and theircharge for the job was covered in theirover-run of 300 copies, these they sold toshops. The arrangement worked well forus, as cash flow was always a problem. Parenthetically, photostat copies ofthe manuscript rules were made, andwhen the commercial game waspublished, fans not willing or financiallyunable to expend the princely sum of $10for the product did likewise, copying thematerial on school (mainlycollege/university) machines. We werewell aware of this, and many gamers whohad spent their hard-earned money to buythe game were more irate than we were.In all, though, the "pirate" material was



more helpful that not. Many new fanswere made by DMs who were using suchcopies to run their games.

From the end of 1972 on I received muchmail and many phone calls. Unlike mycurrent schedule, in those days I did a lotof work late at night, and many a tele-phone call was received after midnight. Irecall one enthusiastic young DM who"took me on a phone adventure" thatlasted two hours, concluding well after 2AM, so he could test both his DMingability and his material. Of course most ofthe calls were in regards to rules quest-ions or inquiries about how best to handlesome aspect of game mastering. As thenumber of enthusiasts grew, I finally hadto have my telephone number "unlisted,"or else I would have had to spend most ofeach day talking to DMs and players.

Gary Gygax and DaveArneson Not a lot to say here, as it has beenover 20 years since Dave and I had muchto do with each other…

What was exactly the role of DaveArneson in the creation of D&D? In hiswww.castleblackmoor.com web site,Dave defines himself 'the father of roleplaying'.

As Dave noted in his interview in"Different Worlds" #3, I wrote the whole ofthe D&D game. Arneson contributedideas for the D&D game. Also, some ofthe contents of the D&D Gamesupplement, "Blackmoor", contained hisconcepts and writing, as developed andedited by Tim Kask. As for paternal claimsto roleplaying, well, if Dave wishes to callhimself that, okay. That's his affair. Hemust be very old, though, because as faras I can tell, roleplaying began about thetime children in past historical agesplayed "let's pretend" games… For my part I am satisfied withwhatever credits others care to assign tome and I believe my work speaks amplyfor itself.

Was Dave Arneson's role recognizedby TSR Hobbies? How many times didhe sue TSR Inc.? I remember hearingfrom Peter Adkison in 1997 that he hadfinally settled the last suit of Daveagainst TSR Inc.

As to Arnesons's role in the creation ofD&D, Tactical Studies Rules (actually mein this case) listed his name on theproduct, right? His name continued to beso shown when Tactical Studies Ruleswas acquired by TSR Hobbies, Inc. Hereceived royalties according to hiscontract. The "Blackmoor" supplementwas published and promoted. Thatanswers that question fully I should think. Only one legal action was filed byDave against TSR. That never went tocourt, was settled. What Peter Adkison was referring to, Iam sure, is the acquisition of certainremaining rights held by Arneson in theD&D game. There was no litigationinvolved, of that I am sure. WotC madeDave Arneson an offer for residual rights,he accepted, and that was that. I speakwith authority here, because thereafter thesame process acquired the residual rightsI held.

What is your relationship with DaveArneson now?

As far as I am concerned, one mightcharacterize the relationship betweenDave and me as distant but cordial. Weare separated by distance and approachto gaming. We have no interaction ingaming or casual communication, butwhen we meet we enjoy a pleasantexchange. As a matter of fact, if Davewere to be running a miniatures game at aconvention I was attending, I would makean effort to play in it.

The facts about therecalled D&D module A bizarre affair indeed, that!

The D&D module B3 Palace of theSilver Princess was published in twoversions, one with an Orange cover(written by Jean Wells) and anotherone with a Green cover (rewritten byTom Moldvay and published in Italiantoo). Legend has that you ordered therecall of the Orange version becauseyou considered the artwork question-able in many cases and that the entireprint run was destroyed, excluding fora box of 75 copies tossed in the trash(and quietly taken away in the night)and some unreturned employees'copies. This module is one of the mostsought after by collectors and ofcourse it can command very high

prices. What is the truth about thismodule?

You ask the man who decided on the'Amazon" and "Temptress" illos in originalD&D, the "Eldritch Wizardry" supplementcover about something in the artwork inJean Well's module being 'objectionable'?I am quite at a loss as to how torespond…. Actually, it was Kevin Blume wholiterally pitched a fit about the product,demanded it be recalled. I had no inputinto the matter and I would have quashedhis objection had I been able to do so.The fact is, though, that there were threepersons on the Board of Directors of thecompany—Brian Blume, Kevin Blume andme. Similarly, while I was the Presidentand CEO, Brian placed himself in chargeof creative affairs, as President of thatactivity, while Kevin was President of allother operations. This effectively boxedme off into a powerless role. If a'President' under me did something Ididn't like, my only recourse would be totake the matter to the Board of Directorswhere I would be outvoted two to one.

The many faces ofTSR From my perspective, those "faces'were all pretty ugly from about 1981 on…

The first company you were partner inwas Tactical Studies Rules but, as youwrite in your own FAQ "1976: Don diesof a heart attack in January. His wife isimpossible to deal with. TSR HobbiesInc. is formed, and this corporationbuys out Don's widow". I rememberreading that Don Kaye was instrument-al in the D&D publication, havingcashed an insurance policy to havemoney enough for printing the first1,000 copies. Is this true? Do you thinkif Don Kaye had not passed on, thingswould have evolved in a different way?

Don Kaye borrowed against a lifeinsurance policy he had, the sum drawnout being $1,000. There is no question in my mind thathad Don Kaye lived, the whole course oflater events at TSR would have beenaltered radically. Don was not only a veryintelligent guy, a gamer, but he was alsoone who was not given to allowing theprospect of greater profits to cloud hisjudgement in regards the long-term



viability of the enterprise he co-founded,was so proud of.

As it's written in your biography, from1976 to 1983 you were President ofTSR Hobbies despite Brian and MelvinBlume having the 65% and then the70% of company's shares. Were therelations between you and the Blumesgood or at least tolerable? Did theygive you directions about thecompany's evolution and businessstrategy or did you set them byyourself?

Melvin Blume was Brian's father. Hepurchased shares in the corporation.Then, at Brian's insistence, I agreed thatKevin, a younger brother of Brian thenmanaging the accounting and fulfilmentoperations at TSR, be allowed to ownthose shares. They were duly transferredand then Kevin became a member of theBoard of Directors. I have spoken earlier of the structurethat the Blumes imposed on TSR in 1981.As another example of things before then,late 1979 or early 1980, I issued someinstructions. When Brian heard what I hadordered he shouted loudly for all to hear:«I don't care what Gary said. I owncontrolling interest in this company and itwill be done the way I say!». I should haveparted ways with TSR then and there, butI still had a lot of loyalty to the companyand the vision upon which it had beencreated. Anyway, from that point on, I hadlittle control, and in general what I desiredbe done was ignored or the exactopposite was put in place.

I know that in those first years D&Dand RPGs enjoyed a phenomenalgrowth and TSR Hobbies experiencedbooming sales not only in the US but invarious other countries too. At its peakTSR, Inc. (successor of TSR Hobbies)employed over 300 staffers accordingto The Space Gamer # 69 (May – June1984). The famous 'James DallasEgbert III case' seemed to have adecisive role for the media coverage ofthe game and the booming of salesthereafter. Could you describe to ourreaders this case and itsconsequences?

James Dallas Egbert III was a troubledyoung man who attended university inMichigan. I understand that he played theD&D game and possibly he and some ofhis associates might have explored sometunnels under the university to see if they

might serve as a place to live roleplay. Allof that was reported in the news mediahere, but the credibility of the news mediais suspect. There came a time when Egbertdisappeared from his school and hismother called in a private detective, oneWilliam Dear, to investigate. Mr Dear wasimaginative, if nothing else, and heapparently seized upon the opportunity tosensationalize the matter, going so far asto suggest that Egbert was lost in thesteam tunnels or that, because of D&D,some foul play might have occurred. Thenews media gave such wild speculation alot of coverage. Then Egbert wasdiscovered in Texas where he had goneto be with his father. Of course the continual presscoverage of this, their mention of the D&Dgame and its 'dangers' caused sales toskyrocket. We couldn't print fast enoughto fill orders. I had projected growth for theyear to go from approximately $4.2 millionto $8.5 million for that fiscal year.Because of the 'Egbert Affair', TSRgrossed $16.5 million. Gross pre-tax profitwas about $4.25 million. Immediately afterthose results, the Blumes took what waseffectively total control of TSR. Thecorporation subsequently realized greatergross sales, but never thereafter did theprofit margin come close to that. I did notbelieve in heavy borrowing and expansionbeyond the means of the corporation tomanage comfortably out of profits and theBlumes did. Staff size was also something theBlumes seemed to revel in. There wereindeed over 300 employees in TSR in1983 and 1984. They oversaw allpersonnel - human resources as theypreferred to call it—save for a smallpersonal staff of my own doing specialcreative projects and assisting me with myduties. Although I did not have any directcontrol of operations, I was still seeing tothe corporate 'face', directing advertisingand promotion and generally in theforefront where business deals with largecompanies were to be conducted.

Did you ever read "The DungeonMaster" book by Dear, the privatedetective that solved this case? Whatwas the book's impact at the time andwhat is your judgement of it?

No, I never read it. Undoubtedly thosethat did got a rather misleading impress-ion of RPGs in general and D&D inparticular. Any impact that the book inquestion had was minimal in my judge-ment. It was the news media, particularly

TV, which caused real harm to the reputeof the game with their unfoundedassertions and gross exaggerations.

In 1981 you negotiated a distributiondeal with Random House, the biggestUS publisher. Did you approach themor vice versa? What was the result ofthis deal for TSR Hobbies?

I was in process of negotiations withSimon & Schuster when the woman whowas then the VP of Sub-rights Licensingat Random House telephoned me. Notsurprisingly, this was instigated by her twosons, both of who were then avid D&Dgamers. When she mentioned that wecould conclude a deal speedily, get intobook trade distribution in a matter ofmonths, not a year, I immediately bookeda flight to New York City. After a couple ofdays of meetings we had struck anexcellent agreement, good for RandomHouse and great for TSR, I assure you.

Along D&D and AD&D, TSR Hobbiesattempted to diversify publishing manyboard games, for example Divine Right(one of the most popular and still oneof the most sought in the collector'smarket), granting Judges Guildlicenses to publish products'approved' for D&D and AD&D, grantingGrenadier Models to produce officialAD&D miniatures and selling licensesfor a coloring album, party items andmuch more. How many licenses didTSR Hobbies sell regarding D&D andAD&D? What was the most weirdproduct carrying the D&D or AD&Dlogos? I'd go for the party items, butyou could now better...

You are lumping apples and orangestogether here, so I'll divide my answer intoseparate parts. TSR did seek to broaden its base ofgames by publishing other RPGs and alsoboard games. Had any of the non-fantasyRPGs been properly supported, I ancertain that each such game would haveestablished a fan base and made a smallbut sufficiently ample profit so as to justifyretaining it as an active line. Similarly, asyou note, the "Divine Right" game wasexcellent, and had it been promoted andmanaged properly, it too could havebecome a standard title on the TSRbacklist of games. Licensing is another matter entirely. Itis generally a most desirable thing, ascontracting with another firm to allow themto use trademarks and images to produce



ancillary products, or place such marks and likenesses on their products, is both"free money" and excellent advertising.The figurines license granted to Grenadierwas the first given by TST, as I recall, andthen a succession of others followed. Thelicense granted to Judge's Guild was,admittedly, a lot of work in that productshad to be carefully reviewed for continuitywith the AD&D and D&D game systems.This was not handled well at TSR, andeventually the license was withdrawn.Thereafter I strongly advocated arranginga licensing agreement with Mayfair Famesfor their "Role Aids" product line, but I wasoutvoted in the board meeting consideringthe question. A bit later on I was activelypromoting a merger with GamesWorkshop, but the Blumes managed tofrighten off Steve Jackson and IanLivingstone. Of course that merger wouldhave given those two 25% interest inTSR, and the control of the companywould no longer have rested in the handsof Brian and Kevin. Such are thevicissitudes of corporate affairs. As for the most unusual productlicensed, I suppose I'd have to vote for thegreen "Big Wheel" plastic tricycle with adragon head on the front of the handlebars (Amazing! N.d.R.). My youngest son,Alex, surely did enjoy riding one when hewas a tot though.

Exactly, when and for what reasonsyour relationship with the Blumesstarted to degenerate in, forgive me forthe expression, an all out war for thecontrol of the company?

This has been pretty well answered invarious responses above. The motivationfor the Blumes to want to assume controlwas, in my opinion, the money. My receiv-ing royalties, small percentages, butmeaningful when sales volume was takeninto account, and the recognition givenmainly to me seemed to have cloudedtheir perspective and affected their judge-ment most adversely.

In 1982 TSR Hobbies decided toterminate the license to GrenadierModels and started producing its ownAD&D Official miniatures and then aline of toys. There was an interview toKevin Blume in The Space Gamer #63(May – June 1983) about this subject.He said: "We licensed part of ourAD&D toy line to LJN, a large companyin our field (...). We retained forourselves anything else that mightcome from Dungeons & Dragons". Why

TSR Hobbies embarked in such operations in fields already having a lotof well-established manufacturers?Were such choices part of the reasonof, I quote your FAQ, "TSR hadaccumulated $1.5 million debt that they[the Blumes and others managers]couldn't figure out how to pay"?

Diversification into the manufacture ofminiature figurines for use withrole-playing and other games was not abad idea in my opinion. If the newundertaking had been managed properly,integrated with the publishing, theminiatures line could have been profitableand enhanced the corporation's marketshare. That publishing and figurinemanufacturing, properly integrated andsupported, function well is welldemonstrated by the success of GamesWorkshop. That established, I do notbelieve that TSR did manage the matterwell. However it was not a substantialfactor in the debt position that thecorporation found itself in 1984. To thebest of my knowledge the following arethe major contributing factors: � the Blumes had acquired, withoutapproval of the Board of Directors, a craftcompany called GreenfieldNeedlewomen. This company was ownedby one of their relatives. While military/fantasy miniatures might be successfullyintegrated into a game publishingcompany, a line of needlecraft andassociated products certainly could not. � Kevin Blume had overprinted thepreviously successful multiple-path D&Dadventure books, so that there were in thewarehouse some millions of copies ofthese various books that could not besold. � over a million dollars of systemsfurniture had been purchased or leased,and it was sitting unused, unpacked forthe most part, sufficient for hundreds ofemployees that did not exist. � TSR was over-staffed, 300 plusemployees, while operations needed lessthan 200. Furthermore, there wasconsiderable nepotism involved. � The corporation owned and leasedover 70 automobiles. There were other egregious thingscontributing to the financial problems ofthe corporation, but the above are thesalient ones.

In the same interview, Kevin Blumestates: "I mean, Mattel woulddesperately love to buy us [TSRHobbies]" and this after 'debunking'rumours of you and Duke Siefried

leaving TSR Hobbies and forming your own company and the Blumes sellingremaining shares to Mattel itself. Wasthis true? Were there largeentertainment and toy corporationsinterested in acquiring TSR Hobbies?Considering the company had enjoyedsuch an amazing growth in a fewyears, had some very successfulproduct lines, very loyal fans andstrong brands, the idea itself surelyhad a lot of merit in their eyes(especially for Mattel, I suppose).

TSR had received inquiries aboutacquisition from other corporations forseveral years prior to 1984. As far as Iknow the Blumes were not interested inselling. I never considered forming anothercompany, with or without Duke Siefried. As a matter of fact, though, I had beencontemplating for some time the prospectof taking TSR public. When I encouragedemployees to acquire shares in the corp-oration it was because I assumed that thecompany would move into the publicarena. The Blumes opposed me in this. As for interest in acquisition, I offer thefollowing factual account. As the CEO ofDungeons & Dragons EntertainmentCorp. I was meeting with Mr. SidShineberg, President of Universal in 1984.I had made the appointment to discuss amotion picture based on the game. In thecourse of that hour-plus long meeting, Mr.Shineberg said, and I quote as nearly asmemory permits, the following: "We wouldlike to acquire you (TSR/D&DEntertainment), joint venture with you, orengage in just about any co-venture youname." Of course I was knocked back onmy mental heels, but I think I kept a pokerface. What an opportunity, I thought. Thenthe reality of the Blumes came to cloudthe rosy vistas I had glimpsed. I thankedhim, explained that I held only a minorityownership in TSR, but assured Mr.Shineberg that I would relate Universal'sinterest to the Board of Directors at itsnext monthly meeting. Even as I said thatI knew there would be no positiveresponse from the Blumes. That proved tobe the case. As a positive, though, I took from thatmeeting a positive assurance thatUniversal would give D&D Entertainmenta very positive look when it came time topresent a major motion picture project Iwas working on. Right after the meetingwith Mr. Shineberg, I met with OrsonWells. He subsequently agreed tobecome a part of the project, take the main supporting role. Not many weeks



ater I met with Edgar Gross, then theExecutive Producer for John Boorman,and after another meeting that wasmoving forward too, with a date to be setto meet with Mr. Boorman to present thescript and see if he would produce anddirect. With that done, all that remainedwas to take the package to Universal,meet again with Mr. Shineberg. A verystrong prospect for getting a deal indeed,all that. Before I could go further downthat road I had to return to Lake Genevabecause of the financial crisis at TSR(1984). This you mention later on, so I'llspeak no more of that at this point. Here I must again digress to providethe reader with the background that willenable a better understanding of TSRunder the Blumes. After thereorganization where Brian and KevinBlume boxed my position as presidentand CEO into a powerless role, they wereevidently not completely satisfied. A partof that possibly stemmed from the factthat by sheer force of personality, alongwith occasional mutterings about leavingthe company, I managed to stop some oftheir plans and even managed to getsomething I thought wise past them andinto the works, so to speak. A part of theirdissatisfaction might have stemmed fromtheir own self-doubts. Whatever thereasons, the Blumes decided that TSRmust join the American ManagementAssociation ("AMA"—thankfully nowdefunct). This was done without myapproval. Soon the company was visitedby their "experts," people who in myopinion were likely helpful to widgetmanufacturers and firms providingordinary services. As a matter of factthese "experts" had no clue about thehobby game field. That evident lacknotwithstanding, the Blumes had the AMApeople assess TSR operations, then giveall employees 'training' in endlessmeetings, those for the upper tier ofpersonnel at expensive resort facilities. Iattended one only, and my judgementwas that the whole of the program wasfarcical, nothing but waste. As I wasvocal in my opinion, it is likely that thatsolidified the Blumes in their commitmentto the AMA. Their next step was to expand theBoard of Directors to six, bringing in three'outside' directors, all members of theAMA. One was a lawyer from a largeMilwaukee law firm. Another was apersonnel officer from a Milwaukee areacompany. The third owned a companythat made medical equipment. I wasabsolutely astonished at such a move. Of

course these three directors, brought in and paid because of the Blumes, "suits"quite ignorant of hobby gaming andgenerally hostile to the culture I hadoriginally created for the company, weresolidly behind Kevin and Brian and opposed to me. That I referred to them asMoe, Shemp, and Larry likely didn't endear me to them. That those threestooges of the Blumes sat on the Board ofDirectors for some two years andfacilitated the mismanagement of TSR bythe Blumes in undeniable. Whatever I brought before the boardwas likely to be voted down by a five toone margin. Not long after Williams gained controlof TSR, she dismissed those stooges.They knew I was going to do that theinstant I gained control, but I do believethat they thought Williams would not, asthey supported her. That, of course istypical but very ironic to me, as under hermanagement TSR came to far worsestraits than had occurred under theBlumes, albeit it took more time for thecollapse to occur. When it did, TSR hadabout $30 million in secured debt andwhat I believe was in the neighbourhoodof at least two or three million ofunsecured debt, possibly much more. Iknow the secured debt figure, because Iwas an unsecured debtor who was owedsix figures from the settlement of the suitTSR brought against the DangerousJourneys game. I also spoke with anauthor who was owed over a half millionin royalties.

The Space Gamer #65 (September/October 1983) announced a deep'reorganization' of TSR Hobbies withthe firing of 40 employees and the birthof four companies with the same boardof directors (you, Brian Blume andKevin Blume) on June, 24. We see thebirth of TSR, Inc., TSR Ventures, TSRInternational and TSR Entertain- mentCorporation. The article refers to"financial setbacks in the first half of1983" as possible cause of this split.Why was this structure put in place?Was it effective? We know that TSREntertainment was renamed D&DEntertainment Corporation and that itwas instrumental, with your guidance,to the birth of the D&D Cartoon Showand that TSR Inc. was 'the' TSR forfans and professionals, but whathappened to the other two companiesof the group?

Discharged employees were rehired orreplaced all too soon. As to the rest, asidefrom the fact that there were six membersof the BoD, that is essentially correct,although I am not quite sure of what 'financial setbacks' means. As I recall,TSR's financial report for 1983 showed over $32 million in gross sales, with amarginal profit — very marginal. That wasnot so much a setback as it was ademonstration of poor management. It might be worth noting that the salesmanager in position in 1983 pushed a lot of product into outlets that I knew wouldnot be able to sell it. I was vocal aboutthis and what I warned against wasignored. When returns came in 1984, thesales manager had moved on to anotherposition, his track record of 'salessuccess' at TSR likely adding much lusterto his resume… I had virtually no input in or knowledgeof TSR Ventures. I was kept in the dark. Itwas involved in production of plastics andtoys in the Far East, but beyond that Ican't say. TSR International wasestablished to manage overseasbusiness, distribution and sales there,licensing and production. When thechickens of the Blume mismanagement ofthe corporation came home to roost earlyin 1985, TSR Ventures was folded. Lateron, when Williams was in control of thecorporation the same thin happened inregards to TSR International andDungeons & Dragons EntertainmentCorp. I can also say that from what I recallKevin and Brian saying, the separatecorporations were aimed at keepingforeign income away from UStaxation—they were envisioning millionsand millions of dollars rolling in. Theownership of D&D EntertainmentCorporation was held by the TSR ExemptProfit Sharing Trust and, as that trustcovered in the main Brian and Kevin andme, it is likely that this corporation wasseen as a more or less hidden incomesource by the Blumes. When I was instructed by the Blumesto move to the West Coast and head upTSR Entertainment, the first thing I notedout there was a distinct dislike of TSR,this from earlier contact with the Blumes,as far as I could ascertain. Thus Iimmediately requested the BoD for aname change, and I got my way withoutany real fight. That is likely due to the factthat the Blumes considered the operationa good way to keep me out of their hair,and the name I asked for was a logicalone considering the recognition factor. �



Introduction Combat sessions in my OD&D camp-aign are, no pun intended, a double-edgedsword. For the players, it's a thrilling oppor-tunity to flex their fantasy muscles andovercome their characters' foes. For theDM (read: me), it's a potentially tedioustime to consult combat matrices, add upmodifiers, and umpire "to-hit" rolls. Don'tget me wrong—combat is an important partof the game, and I like a hard-won fantasyrumble as much as the next guy. But let'snot kid ourselves: combat can be a pain,because arbitrating it fairly is sometimesmore work than play. Ironically, as thefastest-paced part of OD&D, combatprobably slows down the game the most. Unfortunately, that's the way theoriginal game designers paved that partic-ular road, and the "official" combat system,while largely suited to its task, has someserious speed bumps. The relationshipbetween the attacking "to-hit" roll and thedefender's armour class is among the mostvexing in this respect, simply because ittakes one of several various tables printedin small type to interpret the result of eachtoss of the combat die. If you've playedOD&D for any length of time, you alreadyunderstand how combat works. But youalso have an idea of the time required toreferee a single attack. For most attacks, ittakes only a few seconds, but there isalways that attack laden with a slew ofmodifiers, the attack that, for one reason oranother, takes a disproportionate share oftime to figure out. I don't advocate a complete overhaulof the official system, but I do think thatways exist to make combat easier toarbitrate. If you've every balked at the needfor your character to roll "higher" to hit a"lower" AC numbers, or you've taken thetime to deliberately memorise which pagesof the rulebook contain the combatmatrices, this article may provide a moreintuitive solution.

Armour Class The first task in streamlining combat isto make sense out of armour class values.Fundamentally, the idea of AC is good: it'sa single number used to indicate thedegree to which a combatant is protectedfrom physical blows. As it stands in theofficial rules, however, AC is not exactlyintuitive: for reasons not entirely known tothis writer, the original D&D authors choseto present armour class in a puzzlingmanner: low AC values are better than high

AC values. This requires alteration, sincenearly every other aspect of the gamepromotes high values over low. Indeed,even enchanted armour is described withmagical "plusses" such that, bafflingly, asuit of leather +2 provides more protectionthan a suit of leather – 1, despite the factthat lower numbers are better than higherones. The new AC system described hereinfavours high values, comprised of a baseAC figure augmented by modifiers thatrepresent armour worn, the use of a shield,Dexterity adjustments, and other appropr-iate factors. The benefit of the system isthat it accommodates, without the need foralteration, all of the existing AC modifiersextant within the rules. With little effort, OD&D players and DMs can convert ACvalues from the official system, calculatenew AC values within the new system, andquickly recognise the intuitive value of theswitch.1

Base Armour Class Base armour class is a being's ACvalue sans protection, or, put another way,a being's worst natural AC. In the officialsystem, the worst value possible is AC is 9,and this represents the base AC for most.Those with natural armour (e.g., scales ora thick hide) or DEX adjustments possessbetter base AC values. For example, acharacter with a Dexterity score of 16 (a +2bonus) has a base AC of 7; a black widowspider (RC2/206) has a base AC of 6. To set armour class back on the intuit-ive track, upon which high numbers arebetter than low, we need first to convertbase AC values. Let's assume that thereexists a deliberate correspondencebetween the d20 "to-hit" roll and the officialarmour class range: namely, that thecurrent AC values occupy the d20's lowside (i.e., 1 to 9). Since we're converting tohigh numbers, we'll look for new AC valueson the d20's high side, or, more precisely,from 11 to 20.

Combat sans Matrix


Combat sans Matrix A rapid "to-hit" arbitration system for OD&D combat

Erin D. Smale

JW

To maintain consistency, we'll establishthat each point below ten in the official ACsystem is counted as a single point above10 in the new system. Thus, the base AC 9in the official rules becomes a base AC 11within the new system. For those withimproved armour classes, the same form-ula applies; a black widow's official AC is 6;under this system, base AC becomes 14.

Determining Actual AC A combatant's actual armour class isdetermined by applying all normal ACmodifiers to the base AC value. Forexample, a ring of protection +3 grants a+3 modifier to the wearer's base AC. ADEX adjustment of -1 modifies base AC by-1. A normal shield, which improves AC by1, provides an AC modifier of +1; a shield+2 provides an AC modifier of +3. Unlessotherwise noted, all such AC modifiers arecumulative. Actual suits of armour, under the newsystem, no longer provide an overall ACvalue per se; instead, they modify one'sbase AC. For example, leather armourprovides, in the official rules, an AC of 7,which is two points better than the typicalbase AC of 9. In the new system, then,leather armour provides a +2 AC modifier.A revised table of AC modifiers for officialarmour types is cited below and issuggested to replace that found on RC/67:

Using Table 1, then, a character with abase AC 11 wearing leather armour has anactual armour class of 13. The samecharacter with chain mail and shield has anAC of 16. A significant consequence of thissystem is that creatures with improvedbase AC values are better protected whenthey wear armour than in the official rules.For example, a hobgoblin's official AC is 6(RC/185). Under the official rules, if ahobgoblin wears leather armour, his ACremains at 6, since leather (AC 7) providesworse protection than the hobgoblin'snatural AC. However, using the new

system, a hobgoblin (now with a base ACof 14) wearing leather will benefit from thearmour's +2 AC modifier; such a humanoidhas an AC of 16.

Converting Official AC Values Astute readers will note that the fastestway to translate an official AC value to the new system is to simply subtract it from 20.For example, an official OD&D characterwith plate mail and a shield +1 (AC 1)becomes AC 19 [20 – 1 = 19]. This simplifi-ed system is recommended for use onlywhen converting opponents from officialpublications, since, as mentioned, combat-ants with an improved base AC may enjoya better actual AC than in the official rules.

Using the New AC Values inCombat With high AC values representing bett-er protection than low values, it becomes asimple matter to determine the outcome ofa "to-hit" roll: Simply put, if the modified"to-hit" roll is equal to or greater than thedefender's AC, the attack hits and damagemay be rolled. If the "to-hit" roll is less thanthe defender's AC, the attack misses. The time-saving result of thisconvention is that the existing combatmatrices (RC/106-7) no longer need beconsulted. If you want combat to go even

smoother, though, you can dovetail thenew armour class system with our THModsystem, described below:

THMod (To Hit Modifier) The THMod system is based loosely onxD&D's unofficial THAC0 (To Hit ArmourClass 0) system. However, much of themath from even that easy-to-usemodification has been removed. Inconjunction with the revised AC guidelinesabove, the THMod system ensures thatyou'll never have to consult a combatmatrix again. Within this revised "to-hit"system, each d20 attack roll is modified by

its corres- ponding THMod, literally acumulative total of all modifiers pertinent tothat attack. As in combat described withinthe official rules, high "to-hit" rolls aredesirable, so high THMod values arelikewise sought. The nature of the THModsystem allows that attack modifiers cited inthe official rules may be applied to theTHMod system without alteration.

Base THMod The base THMod for any attack is bas-ed on the attacker's class and level (or hitdice if a monster). As shown on the exist-ing combat matrices (RC/106-7), the mostefficient attackers are monsters, followedby fighters, then clerics and thieves, andfinally magic-users. As characters earnexperience levels, and monsters grow in hitdice, base THMod values improve, using aprogression derived from the officialcombat "to-hit" tables. While the base THMod values aresummarised in the following matrices, it isworth noting that the values weredetermined by cross-referencing theattacker's class and level with an (official)AC of 0 on a d20 "to-hit" roll, thensubtracting that value from 20. Thus, a7th-level fighter, who needs a 15 to hit anAC 0 defender, has a base THMod value of+5. A normal man, who requires a 20 tohit an AC 0 opponent, has a base THModvalue of nil (or +0). By contr- ast, a 15HDmonster has a THMod of +12. As shown, no base THMod valueshould be lower than zero, though othermodifiers could render an attacker's overallTHMod for a certain attack negative.

Determining Actual THMod An attacker's base THMod is thefoundation of any "to-hit" roll, though theactual THMod of individual attacks canvary. To determine an attack's actualTHMod, one must apply all normal attackmodifiers to the base THMod value. Forexample, a sword +2 grants a +2 THModto any attack made with that weapon. ASTR adjustment of -1 modifies all STR-based attacks by -1. Attacks from behind,which normally grant a +2 "to-hit" modifier(RC/108), provide a +2 THMod within thissystem. Unless otherwise noted, all suchAC modifiers are cumulative.

Base THMod Values by Classand Level Use Table 2 to determine the baseTHMod values for PCs and NPCs, asderived from the existing OD&D combatmatrices (RC/106-7):

Combat sans Matrix


Table 1: Armour Types 3

Shield side of defender10010+1ShieldTorso, Arms30030+3Scale MailTorso, Arms, Legs50060+6Plate MailTorso, Arms20020+2Leather ArmourHead, Torso, Arms, Legs750250+10Suit ArmourTorso, Arms40040+4Chain MailTorso, Arms45050+5Banded MailBody Location(s)3Enc (cn)Cost (gp)AC ModArmour Type

Base THMod Values by Mon-ster Hit Dice or Attack Rank Use Table 3 to determine base THModvalues for monsters and demi-humansusing attack ranks. As with the THModvalues cited on Table 2, the figures onTable 3 are derived from the existingOD&D combat matrices (RC/106-7). Note that demi-humans use the FighterLevel column on Table 2 until reachingtheir level limit. For dwarves, this is 12th-level; for elves, this is 10th-level; and forhalflings, this is 8th-level. After these levelsare reached, high-level demi-humans usethe attack rank on their respective leveladvancement chart (RC/24, 26, and 27 fordwarves, elves, and halflings, respectively).

THMod Modifiers (General) A combatant's base THMod value isalways modified by the standard attackmodifiers outlined in various locations of the official rules (weapon masterymodifiersare adapted from RC/76 whileother attack modifiers are taken fromRC/108). Unless otherwise noted, allmodifiers noted on Table 4 are cumulative.

THMod Modifiers in Combat During an attack, the player or DMneed simply apply all relevant THModmodifiers to the standard d20 "to-hit" roll. Ifthe modified result is equal to or greaterthan the defender's AC (as determinedusing the system detailed earlier), theattack hits and damage may be rolled. Ifthe modified "to-hit" roll is less than thedefender's AC, the attack fails. For convenience and easy look-ups, itis recommended that a combatant'sTHMod with each weapon or attack type benoted on the character sheet or

NPC/monster description. Below are someTHMod examples:

Pyrohydra with 11 hit dice, attackingfrom above: THMod = +11 [+10 (HD 11)+1 (attack from above) = +11]

4th-level fighter with Skilled masterywith the sword: THMod = +5 [+3 (4th-level fighter) +2 (Skilled mastery) = +5]

4th-level fighter, as above, attackingfrom behind in total darkness: THMod

= +3 [+3 (4th-level fighter) +2 (Skilledmastery) +2 (attack from behind) -4(total darkness)]

Goblin warrior unskilled with the spear:THMod = -1 [+1

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