Slashdot Mirror
Dungeons and Dragons Knowledge Compendium
ScurvySeaDog writes "Like me, I would bet many slashdotters where D&D players before they got their first home computer in the early 80's. This site seems to have every book, module, supplement ever published along with scans of the covers. They also have current collector values for you packrats. It was nostalgic for me to browse around looking up all the old modules and books."
kaffie :D
only those moron geeks play it
this is a "nerd" website dammit
you don't mean where, you mean were. Fucking can the editors please EDIT?
Sorry, had to say it. I'll be going now.
nope. I had a girlfriend and a Hash habit as a teenager... D&D=Heavy Metal Fan Alert....
yeah, now i can waste hours and hours re-living old memories, instead of trolling! 6th post!
Trollaxor.com. We hardly knew ye.
Ooohhh, a counter. *Reloads website*
Is anyone working on putting the adventures from the original D&D sets into Neverwinter Nights? It would be great to go and play them again. I might even try and track down the crazy DM I used to play with!
D & D as an action game was an interesting take...wonder if anyone will ever try that again?
(-1, Raw and Uncut is the only way to read)
Everyone knows you're abusing your unlimited mod points!!! How the fuck can so many posts be modded down in such a short time!? And when the fuck will you apologize to Seth Finkelstein?
I declare this topic to be unworthy of comments. What kind of comment can we make that it worth reading? Uhh yeah I uhh was a DM you see... uhh yeah... cool site.
Clearly this post is a very nice one, and clearly it is worth bookmarking that site, but come on, why did you even bother to read the comments?
Not slashdotted yet!
I actually got to view the featured site without having to wait until either the next day, or a multiple of mirror appear...
Woot!
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
there was a D&D database called "Vast Database". Seems like everyone added their house rules to the database untill it was this monsterish download.
I can remember spending 2 days on a 14.4 modem on some BBS in Hawaii. I was in Alaska. My parents were VERY upset with the phone bill.
Has anyone seen it around? It had the # to another BBS to send updates/recieve updates. In mid 1992 it was 101 mb. That is about the last time I saw it. BBS died and the new "internet" thing was rolling.
Even now, no one has the bandwidth to host such a file given it's exponential growth rate. Given that it always seemed to take up half my hard drive, it ought to be up to about 80 gigabytes by now.
If voting were effective, it would be illegal by now.
You can play D&D using this Commodore 64 Emulator. Finding a copy of the disk to play it with is pretty easy with a search of google.
Jack Buck (1924-2002)
Darryl Kile (1968-2002)
The link between computers and RPG's goes back as long as either existed. Geeks' love of Role Playing Games has affected computer culture for decades: from "Adventure" and "Zork" which were both originally programmed on mainframes, to the heavily D&D-influenced classic "Nethack", both computers and RPG's have developed together to the point where today we have... um... faster computers and more elaborate RPGS.
...
Damn, I was hoping for something more profound to come out of that line of reasoning...
It's true that many people started with D&D, but I guess that, while it has a lot of nice features (being quick and clean the one I like most), also many people got soon tired of the stereotypical characters it allowed and the poor realism of its rules. That's why I've always liked RM (RoleMaster) more. Much better (and complex, and maybe slow, yes), IMHO.
:-D). Sure D&D is the most "mainstream" of the RPG rules around, and that's the cause.
:-)
And it's a pity there's no good shop to boy RM things, as it seems there's for D&D (on-topic protection, yes
But only my 0.02EUR, of course
My weblog in spanish
I agree with the previous poster that we (Slashdot users) should be allowed to insist on the editors doing a good job.
If they don't (as in this case not correcting an obvious spelling error), I think the comments to the posting is a reasonable place to critisize also meta-issues, like the selection of articles to be posted, or spelling errors.
As far as I know, there is no other forum for discussing the work of the Slashdot editors.
Therefore, I think it is wrong for moderators to mod-down meta-comments as off-topic, as long as there is no other forum on Slashdot where it is on-topic!
(Puts on the Asbestos suit)
You just have to wonder how is it that a game called "rules for medieval miniatures" had such success...
Maybe now I can find the motivation to unload the 600+ issues of Dragon Magazine clogging up my apartment ... oh, well, someday.
Casual perusal of the Web site didn't turn up reference to the (failed) attempt to collect the "Wormy" cartoons into a single volume. I believe the artist was making a stab at self-publishing, selling "shares" to interested individuals. I must have been thirteen or so at the time, but I sent off for my "share" only to have it refunded months later due to insufficient share sales. I believe I still have the nifty printed scrap of paper somewhere.
Also of note are the "Phil and Dixie" volumes published by Phil Foglio long after its run in Dragon Magazine. Again unlisted, but I guess the site focuses on direct TSR publications only? Perhaps that's why the CD-ROM collection of a substantial number of Dragons is also missing (it gets brief mention in the "What's New" section. Maybe I'm simply too tired to comb through the site for the info.
... too many (*$#^@^# different dice! That's why Steve Jackson gave us GURPS ;-) Incidentally, these were the folks that got raided a while back for their BlackOps supplement...
The Monster Manuals were always my favorite D&D books. Where else could you find the intelligence level or hit points of a vampire or Dracula himself. Monster Manual 2 even had the stats for omnipotent beings who existed on multiple dimmensions simulataneously. The Old Ones, the Greek/Roman Gods and other legendary monsters were all systematicaly categorized with pictures as well. The monsters descriptions, "special attacks", and stats all followed traditional monster lore to a T and geeks appreciated this.
slashdot effect n.
1. Also spelled "/. effect"; what is said to have happened when taco's anus is virtually unreachable because too many shirt-lifters are hitting it after he posts a boring pro-lunix article on the popular Slashdot news service. The term is quite widely used by /. readers, including variants like "Oh my god, my asshole has been slashdotted again!"
2. In a perhaps inevitable generation, the term is being used to describe any similar effect from being butt-fucked by a large admiring crowd. This would better be described as a flash crowd.
FREE NELSON MANDELA
1 As the records of Gondor relate this was Argeleb II, the twentieth of the Northern line, which came to an end with Arvedui three hundred years later.
2 Thus, the years of the Third Age in the reckoning of the Elves and the Dunedain may be found by adding 1600 to the dates of Shire-reckoning.
3 See Appendix B: annals 1451, 1462, 1482; and note at end of Appendix C.
4 Represented in much reduced form in Appendix B as far as the end of the Third Age.
* See note, III 54.
* Elves (and Hobbits) always refer to the Sun as She.
* The Brandywine River
* See Note in Appendix F: Of the Elves.
1 See Appendix F under Ents.
1 Every month in the Shire-calendar had 30 days.
1 See App. F, 54.
There were thirty days in March (or Rethe) in the Shire calendar.
It was probably Orkish in origin: sharku, 'old man'.
1 A few references are given to The Lord of the Rings by volume and page, and to The Hobbit by page.
2 In this edition the dates have been revised, and some errors emended: most of these were accidents occurring in the course of typing and marking,
3 Cf. I, 54; II, 54; III, 54: no likeness remained in Middle-earth of Laurelin the Golden.
4 I, 54; II, 54.
5 I, 54-54; II, 54.
6 Hobbit, 61; I, 54.
7 I, 54-54.
8 I, 54, 54,54; II, 54,54; III, 54,54
9 I, 39, 54.
10 See III, 54, 54.
11 I, 54.
12 II, 54; III, 54.
13 I, 54.
14 I, 54.
15 I, 54.
16 He was the fourth son of Isildur, born in Imladris. His brothers were slain in the Gladden Fields.
17 After Earendur the Kings no longer took names in High-elven form.
18 After Malvegil, the Kings at Fornost again claimed lordship over the whole Arnor, and took names with the prefix ar (a) in token of this.
19 See III, 54. The wild white kine that were still to be found near the Sea of Rhun were said in legend to be descended from the Kine of Araw, the huntsman of the Valar, who alone of the Valar came often to Middle-earth in the Elder Days. Orome is the High-elven form of his name (III, 54).
20 I, 54.
21 I, 54.
22 These are a strange, unfriendly people, remnant of the Forodwaith, Men of far-off days, accustomed to the bitter colds of the realm of Morgoth. Indeed those colds linger still in that region, though they lie hardly more than a hundred leagues north of the Shire. The Lossoth house in the snow, and it is said mat they can run on the ice with bones on their feet, and have carte without wheels. They live mostly, inaccessible to their enemies, on the great Cape of Forochel that shuts off to the north-west the immense bay of mat name; but they often camp on the south shores of the bay at the feet of the Mountains'.
23 'In this way the ring of the House of Isildur was saved; for it was afterwards ransomed by the Dunedain. It is said that it was none other than the ring which Felagund of Nargothrond gave to Barahir, and Beren recovered at great peril'.
24 'These were the Stones of Annuminas and Amon Sul. The only Stone left in the North was the one in the Tower on Emyn Beraid that looks towards the Gulf of Lune. That was guarded by the Elves, and though we never knew it, it remained there, until Cirdan put it aboard Elrond's ship when he left (I, 34, 54). But we are told that it was unlike the others and not in accord with them; it looked only to the Sea. Elendil set it there so that he could look back with "straight sight" and see Eressea in the vanished West; but the bent seas below covered Numenor for ever'.
25 The sceptre was the chief mark of royalty in Numenor, the King tells us; and that was also so in Arnor, whose kings wore no crown, but bore a single white gem, the Elendilmir, Star of Elendil, bound on their brows with a silver fillet'. (I, 54, III 54, 54, 54, 54). In speaking of a crown (I, 54, 54) Bilbo no doubt referred to Gondor; he seems to have become well acquainted with matters concerning Aragorn's line. 'The sceptre of Numenor is said to have perished with Ar-Pharazon. That of Annuminas was the silver rod of the Lords of Andunie, and is now perhaps the most ancient work of Men's hands preserved in Middle-earth. It was already more than five thousand years old when Elrond surrendered it to Aragorn (III, 54). The crown of Gondor was derived from the form of a Numenorean war-helm. In the beginning it was indeed a plain helm; and it is said to have been the one that Isildur wore in the Battle of Dagorlad (for the helm of Anarion was crushed by the stone-cast from Barad-dur that slew him). But in the days of Atanatar Alcarin this was replaced by the jewelled helm that was used in the crowning of Aragorn.'
26 I, 54
27 I, 10; III,54.
28 'The great cape and land-locked firth of Umbar had been Numenorean land since days of old; but it was a stronghold of the King's Men, who were afterwards called the Black Numenoreans, corrupted by Sauron, and who hated above all the followers of Elendil. After the fall of Sauron their race swiftly dwindled or became merged with the Men of Middle-earth, but they inherited without lessening their hatred of Gondor. Umbar, therefore, was only taken at great cost.
29 The River Running.
30 That law was made in Numenor (as we have learned from the King) when Tar-Aldarion, the sixth king, left only one child, a daughter. She became the first Ruling Queen, Tar-Ancalime. But the law was otherwise before her time. Tar-Elendil, the fourth king, was succeeded by his son Tar-Meneldur, though his daughter Silmarien was the elder. It was, however, from Silmarien that Elendil was descended'.
31 This name means "Ship of Long-foam'; for the isle was shaped like a great ship, with a high prow pointing north, against which the white foam of Anduin broke on sharp rocks.
32 'I gave Hope to the Dunedain, I have kept no hope for myself.'
33 I, 54
34 It flows into Isen from the west of Ered Nimrais.
35 The dates are given according to the reckoning of Gondor (Third Age). Those in the margin are of birth and death.
36 III, 54, 54
37 III, 54.
38 For her shield-arm was broken by the mace of the Witch-king; but he was brought to nothing, and thus the words of Glorfindel long before to King Earnur were fulfilled, that the Witch-king would not fall by the hand of man. For it is said in the songs of the Mark that in this deed Eowyn had the aid of Theoden's esquire, and that he also was not a Man but a Halfling out of a far country, though Eomer gave him honour in the Mark and the name of Holdwine.
[This Holdwine was none other than Meriadoc the Magnificent who was Master of Buckland.]
39 The Hobbit, p. 52.
40 I, 54-54
41 Or released from prison; it may well be that it had already been awakened by the malice of Sauron.
42 The Hobbit, p. 229.
43 The Hobbit, p. 28.
44 Among whom were the children of Thrain II: Thorin (Oakenshield), Frerin, and Dis. Thorin was then a youngster in the reckoning of the Dwarves. It was afterwards learned that more of the Folk under the Mountain had escaped than was at first hoped; but most of these went to the Iron Hills.
45 Azog was the father of Bolg; see The Hobbit, p. 30.
46 It is said that Thorin's shield was cloven and he cast it away and he hewed off with his axe a branch of an oak and held it in his left hand to ward off the strokes of his foes, or to wield as a club. In this way he got his name.
47 Such dealings with their dead seemed grievous to the Dwarves, for it was against their use; but to make such tombs as they were accustomed to build (since they will lay their dead only in stone not in earth) would have taken many years. To fire therefore they turned, rather than leave their kin to beast or bird or carrion-orc. But those who fell in Azanulbizar were honoured in memory, and to this day a Dwarf will say proudly of one of his sires: 'he was a burned Dwarf', and that is enough.
48 They had very few women-folk. Dis Thrain's daughter was there. She was the mother of Fili and Kili, who were born in the Ered Luin. Thorin had no wife.
49 I, 54.
50 March 15, 2941
1 I, 54.
2 II, 54; The Hobbit, 162
3 III, 54.
4 I, 54-54
5 II, 54
6 It afterwards became clear that Saruman had then begun to desire to possess the One Ring himself, and he hoped that it might reveal itself, seeking its master, if Sauron were let be for a time.
7 Months and days are given according to the Shire Calendar.
8 She became known as 'the Fair' because of her beauty; many said that she looked more like an elf-maid than a hobbit. She had golden hair, which had been very rare in the Shire; but two others of Samwise's daughters were also golden-haired, and so were many of the children born at this time.
9 I, 11; III, 54, note 24.
10 Fourth Age (Gondor) 120
1 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds.
2 In the Shire, in which Year 1 corresponded with T.A. 1601. In Bree in which Year 1 corresponded with T.A. 1300 it was the first year of the century.
3 It will be noted if one glances at a Shire Calendar, that the only weekday on which no month began was Friday. It thus became a jesting idiom in the Shire to speak of 'on Friday the first' when referring to a day that did not exist. or to a day on which very unlikely events such as the flying of pigs or (in the Shire) the walking of trees might occur. In full the expression was 'on Friday the first of Summerfilth'.
4 It was a jest in Bree to speak of 'Winterfilth in the (muddy) Shire'. but according to the Shire-folk Wintring was a Bree alteration of the older name, which had originally referred to the filling or completion of the year before Winter, and descended from times before the full adoption of Kings' Reckoning when their new year began after harvest
5 Recording births. marriages and deaths in the Took families, as well as other matters. such as land-sales, and various Shire events.
6 I have therefore in Bilbo's song (I, 54-54) used Saturday and Sunday instead of Thursday and Friday.
7 Though actually the yestare of New Reckoning occurred earlier than in the Calendar of Imladris, in which it corresponded more or less with Shire April 6.
8 Anniversary of its first blowing in the Shire in 3019.
1 Usually called in Sindarin Menelvagor (I, 54), Q. Menelmacar.
2 As in galadhremmin ennorath (I, 54) 'tree-woven lands of Middle-earth'. Remmirath (I, 54) contains rem 'mesh', Q. rembe, + mir 'jewel'.
3 A fairly widespread pronunciation of long e and o as ei and ou, more or less as in English say no, both in Westron and in the rendering of Quenya names by Westron speakers, is shown by spellings such as ei, ou (or their equivalents in the contemporary scripts). But such pronunciations were regarded as incorrect or rustic. They were naturally usual in the Shire. Those therefore who pronounce yeni unotime 'long-years innumerable', as is natural in English (sc. more or less as yainy oonoatimy) will err little more than Bilbo, Meriadoc, or Peregrin. Frodo is said to have shown great 'skill with foreign sounds'.
4 So also in Annun 'sunset', Amrun 'sunrise', under the influence of the related dun 'west', and rhun 'east'.
5 Originally. But iu in Quenya was in the Third Age usually pronounced as a rising diphthong as yu in English yule
6 The only relation in our alphabet that would have appeared intelligible to the Eldar is that between P and B; and their separation from one another, and from F, M, V, would have seemed to them absurd.
7 Many of them appear in the examples on the title-page, and in the inscription in I, p. 77, transcribed on p. 332. They were mainly used to express vowel-sounds, in Quenya usually regarded as modifications of the accompanying consonant; or to express more briefly some of the most frequent consonant combinations.
8 The representation of the sounds here is the same as that employed in transcription and described above, except that here ch represents the ch in English church; j represents the sound of English j, and zh the sound heard in azure and occasion.
9 The inscription on the West-gate of Moria gives an example of a mode, used for the spelling of Sindarin, in which Grade 6 represented the simple nasals; but Grade 5 represented the double or long nasals much used in Sindarin: 17 = nn, but 21 = n.
10 In Quenya in which a was very frequent, its vowel sign was often omitted altogether. Thus for calma 'lamp' clm could be written. This would naturally be read as calma, since cl was not in Quenya a possible initial combination, and m never occurred finally. A possible reading was calama, but no such word existed.
11 For breath h Quenya originally used a simple raised stem without bow, called halla 'tall'. This could be placed before a consonant to indicate that it was unvoiced and breathed; voiceless r and l were usually so expressed and are transcribed hr, hl. Later 33 was used for independent h, and the value of hy (its older value) was represented by adding the tehta for following y.
12 Those in ( ) are values only found in Elvish use; * marks cirth only used by Dwarves.
1 In Lorien at this period Sindarin was spoken, though with an 'accent', since most of its folk were of Silvan origin. This 'accent' and his own limited acquaintance with Sindarin misled Frodo (as is pointed out in The Thain's Book by a commentator of Gondor). All the Elvish words cited in I, ii, chs 6, 7, 8 are in fact Sindarin, and so are most of the names of places and persons. But Lorien, Caras Galadhon, Amroth, Nimrodel are probably of Silvan origin, adapted to Sindarin.
2 Quenya, for example, are the names Numenor (or in full Numenore), and Elendil, Isildur, and Anarion, and all the royal names of Gondor, including Elessar 'Elfstone'. Most of the names of the other men and women of the Dunedain, such as Aragorn, Denethor, Gilraen are of Sindarin form, being often the names of Elves or Men remembered in the songs and histories of the First Age (as Beren, Hurin). Some few are of mixed forms, as Boromir.
3 The Stoors of the Angle, who returned to Wilderland, had already adopted the Common Speech; but Deagol and Smeagol are names in the Mannish language of the region near the Gladden.
4 Except where the Hobbits seem to have made some attempts to represent the shorter murmurs and calls made by the Ents; a-lalla-lalla-rumba-kamanda-lindor-burume also is not Elvish, and is the only extant (probably very inaccurate) attempt to represent a fragment of actual Entish.
5 In one or two places an attempt has been made to hint at these distinctions by an inconsistent use of thou. Since this pronoun is now unusual and archaic it is employed mainly to represent the use of ceremonious language; but a change from you to thou, thee is sometimes meant to show, there being no other means of doing this, a significant change from the deferential, or between men and women normal, forms to the familiar.
6 This linguistic procedure does not imply that the Rohirrim closely resembled the ancient English otherwise, in culture or art, in weapons or modes of warfare, except in a general way due to their circumstances: a simpler and more primitive people living in contact with a higher and more venerable culture, and occupying lands that had once been part of its domain.
troll n. First recorded at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad in I 471, but must predate this by some time. Still extant at the time of the War of the Ring at the end of the Third Age
Divisions: Cave-trolls, Hill-trolls, Mountain-trolls, Olog-hai, Snow-trolls, Stone-trolls
Meaning: 'Troll' is a word from Scandinavian myth, used as an English translation of the Sindarin torog, of uncertain derivation
Lumbering evil creatures originated by Melkor, and said to have been made by him 'in mockery of the Ents'.
beef is when you need two gats to go to sleep
What you missed was learning that you should want to fuck a woman. Not masturbate to anime characters and scantily clad women who bore visage in your mind from your warped imagination and a AD&D piece of paper. Fuck off and play EQ and mentally fornicate with your JUBEI.
I personally "WHASNT" [to gratuitously use a spurious H] playing D&D at that time. I was socializing with people, having fun, etc. You were draped masturbating and circle jerking with other fucking loon tunes.
You fucking techno-tard. Slashdot jumped the shark so bad, a sarlaac breeding pit for zit cased black hat wannabe human detritus.
Fuck George Lucas.
MUDs: dikus, mushes, moos, etc. I started out with Merc, a modified Diku based MUD by Kah, Hatchet, and Furey and was completely hooked. If I'm not mistaken, Diku was based on some other type of MUD and so on, and was originally based on D&D in some form or another. DikuMUD was a very popular MUD which spawned Merc, Circle, Copper, Viel, Silly, Pirate, Sequent, TheIsles, Envy, Rom, and others. Of course it isn't the same as D&D, but it's very fun if you're into text based adventures. telnet://mad.rom.org:1536
Taken from the Credits & Legal section of the site
Our scans are watermarked, and have been since the site's inception (albeit for a completely different reason); modifications to the image will not remove this watermark, and distribution or public posting of a watermarked image, without permission from The Acaeum, is prohibited.
Is this actually possbile? I noticed the images are stored in JPG format so wouldn't the watermark perhaps be lost in the compression scheme?
BTW Can you even copyright the scan of artwork/cover of which you don't even own the copyright?
aus.music.scrapbook
That's right.
I worry about anyone over the age of 14 who still cares about this shite.
Go get a sex life, mate.
kill nelson mandela
I can't believe anyone would really pay that sort of money for my old floorplans and city geomorphs.
On the other hand, I'd pay a lot for the original Petal Throne maps.
TWW
"Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
Is thanks to the new game, Neverwinter Nights.
FYI, User Friendly's latest cartoons are about a game of AD&D...
Gold Box Series > NWN. 2nd rules > 3rd
The books on that site are good if you're studying for your Ph.D&D.
Intercarve Networks, LLC
No Text
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
Has several chapters on the raid. The full text of the book is available at Bruce Sterling's site.
Best Slashdot Co
I am familiar with the site in question. It is nowhere near as comprehensive as the story suggests. They seem to have all the 1st edition and earlier stuff but hardly any 2nd edition and no 3rd edition.
This is, I think because it's mainly a site for collectors, and 2nd edition stuff doesn't fetch as high a price as 1st edition stuff. (Although I have seen a lot of 2nd edition stuff fetch lots more than some 1st edition stuff).
Details of modules etc are confined to differences between printings, rarity, etc.
This is definately a site for collectors, not players, and people wanting a stroll down memory lane (complete with random encounters) should look elsewhere.
graspee
"It was nostalgic for me to browse around looking up all the old modules and books."
The operative word being "was."
Looking at my shelf and I count no less than 15 different books that they don't have listed on their site. In addition 10 modules of which they have no mention. That site isn't as good as it looks.
Josh Winslow
Once as a young boy I invested most of my money in (A)D&D materials.
...I just wish it would be as easy to give up these as it is to sell my stocks.
It seems that I made a wise choice since someone is now willing to pay 150$ from the books I bought with 5$.
Listening to those RM guys ranting on D&D and calling their RPG 'realistic' allways has been a good laugh. ;-) .
Fact is that D&D and RM are RPG's that follow very much the same 'classical' principle of Charakterclasses, Levels and Hitpoints (aka 'CLH' RPG). And tons of pointless table-filled books to decash the junkies
Anyway, talking about realism in an RPG is silly even if the rules come as close to being plausile as it can be (GURPS and Milleniums End kinda go that direction).
To me the hilarious paragraph-and-rulebook tonnage of CLH RPG's allways was the major downside of playability and fun. Torg was one of the first real reliefs I expierienced - and the Dramadeck is so much of an encouragement to drop CLH Hack'n'Slay I couldn't believe it.
RPG's have come a long way since D&D (the DOS of RPG's), RM and it's heritage , it's kinda a shame people still stick to those game mechanisims that actually hinder roleplaying quite a bit (one would be suprised).
Bottom line:
If you wanna get an RPG, buy one of those which don't have Characterclasses, Expieriencelevels and Hitpoints. Everway, Torg, GURPS, and Milleniums End are a few that apply to that rule - and are worth looking at.
Oh, and please spare the endless "if you don't like the rules you can change them" and "rules aren't important, the people are" - I know those allready. Here's the response: You can by a good RPG in the first place, saves you a lot of time. And I usually pick my friends first, then pick the RPG. Might aswell be a good one.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Where's my client?!?!?! ... oops, wrong thread! :O
Thou shall bow before the Loard of the ping!
Or is it... I'm all confused now!
I'd rather be sailing...
Read the FAQ on the site and check the publication date of your books. They don't appear to cover anything after 1990, when the 2nd edition came out.
/me falls over. I wish my mod points hadn't just expired.
DM: "You enter a clearing, and near the center, you see a gazebo."
Incredibly Ignorant Paladin Player: "Has the gazebo seen me?"
DM: "Um, no."
IIPP: "I approach the gazebo."
DM: "Ok."
IIPP: "It still hasn't moved?"
DM: "No."
IIPP: "I attack the gazebo!"
DM: "Ok, you swing at the gazebo. Pieces of it are flying off."
IIPP: "Is it attacking me back?"
The good news is, roleplaying will improve IIPP's vocabulary.
Charts! Tables! Modifiers! Oooh!
Eric comes quite close to being a computer. When he games, he
methodically considers each possibility before choosing his preferred
option. If given time, he will invariably pick the optimum solution.
It has been known to take weeks. He is otherwise in all respects a
superior gamer, and I've spent many happy hours competing with and
against him, as long as he is given enough time.
So... Eric was playing a neutral paladin (Why should only lawful, good
religions get to have holy warriors? was the rationale) in Ed's game.
He even had a holy sword, which fought well and did all those things
holy swords are supposed to do, including good or evil (by random die
roll). He was on some lord's lands when the following exchange
occurred:
ED: You see a well-groomed garden. In the middle, on a small hill, you
see a gazebo.
ERIC: A gazebo? What color is it?
ED: (Pause) It's white, Eric.
ERIC: How far away is it?
ED: About 50 yards.
ERIC: How big is it?
ED: (Pause) It's about 30 feet across, 15 feet high, with a pointed
top.
ERIC: I use my sword to detect whether it's good.
ED: It's not good, Eric. It's a gazebo!
ERIC: (Pause) I call out to it.
ED: It won't answer. It's a gazebo!
ERIC: (Pause) I sheathe my sword and draw my bow and arrows. Does it
respond in any way?
ED: No, Eric. It's a gazebo!
ERIC: I shoot it with my bow (rolls to hit). What happened?
ED: There is now a gazebo with an arrow sticking out of it.
ERIC: (Pause) Wasn't it wounded?
ED: Of course not, Eric! It's a gazebo!
ERIC: (Whimper) But that was a plus-three arrow!
ED: It's a gazebo, Eric, a gazebo! If you really want to try to
destroy it, you could try to chop it wih an axe, I suppose, or you
could try to burn it, but I don't know why anybody would even try.
It's a @#%$*& gazebo!
ERIC: (Long pause - he has no axe or fire spells) I run away.
ED: (Thoroughly frustrated) It's too late. You've awakened the gazebo,
and it catches you and eats you.
ERIC: (Reaching for his dice) Maybe I'll roll up a fire-using mage so
I can avenge my paladin...
At this point, the increasingly amused fellow party members restored a
modicum of order by explaining what a gazebo is. This is solely an
afterthought, of course, but Eric is doubly lucky that the gazebo was
not situated on a grassy knoll.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
For years I've been meaning to take some time and analyze the differences between the d20 system, where all results are of equal probability (need tables to weight the odds) and the 3D6 system found in Steve Jackson's The Fantasy Trip and GURPS games, where the results form a natural bell curve.
Not having played D&D since *long* before WotC took over, I have no experience with the current d20 system. My impression is still that GURPS is more elegant and potentially realistic (especially when enhanced with tbone's Gulliver extensions - http://www.io.com/~tbone/gurps/).
OK, I admit game systems were my hobby-horse of choice before I discovered operating systems.
"Gimme a G!
"Gimme an E!
"Gimme another E!
"Gimme a K!
Go on gnutella or your preferred p2p and search for "demento dungeon dragon".
There's an mp3 (the original) and an mpg (someone created a computer animation to go along with the soundtrack).
If you played dnd in high or junior high (now called middle) school, you will love this. You won't be disappointed.
Software Wars
Wow. This is such a wonderful trip down memory lane. One thing that jumped out at me right away, looking at the covers for the modules, was how amazing some of the artwork on the covers is! Just think how many there were, and how much effort went into these wonderful covers. It'd be really interesting to see a compendium book simply featuring the artwork of D&D, including all the small pictures featured throughout all the manuals, etc.
Did anyone actually follow the rules for fighting monsters in these modules? From the second encounter on, I would just think "Okay, I killed the shit out of this [centaur, wooly mammoth, etc], what's my prize? Sad, I know, but I was playing D&D by myself. How much sadder does it get? :)
free online diet tracking.
I got the main page and a couple of the price lists before the /. effect kicked in.
Back when I would play D&D with my friends all night... people would say that we where playing with evil and we would be warped for life, becomming axe murders and the likes...
BTW anyone seen my battle axe!!!!
Wise men speak because they have something to say, Fools because they have to say something!!!!
Check it out. Its from the game summoner and its funny cause its true.f o/0,369 9,220487,00.html
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilm/product/film_in
My love for you is ticking clock, BESERKER.
D&D was, for it's time, an incredible piece of work. It managed to put across so much that's now taken for granted. For example, the fact that you play just one character was near revolutionary for the time - D&D was the first to get that across sucessfully. Were it not for D&D, RPG's would exist . (Okay something else would have taken it's place, but that's a given).
Since then, however, there's been a large number of different RGP's produced, some more or less like D&D (such as RM), some a bit different (Call of Cuthullu, Vampire:the Masqurade, etc), and some rather different (Sorcerer and
De Profoundis.
Some of them really push the envelope of what RPG's are. Some are just kick ass fun. With all the nostalgia, remeber to try some of the newer stuff.
On RM Leisure Games based in london, will mail order, and have a stock of
Rolemaster gear. They will deliver outside the UK (including Spain), but that costs extra. Hey, if it's the only place to get it...
Okay,
:D
So who else still wants to draw a little shield for Armor Class on their CV?
STR, CON, DEX etc. would spice things up a little too.
My question is; how many slashdotters pray towards this website every day? I know I do, every day before lunch in my +3 Vestiments of Faith.
This is not the sig you're looking for
When I first heard about Neverwinter Nights, I thought "Great, I can go and code all those modules I had when I was a kid"...then I started flashbacking to all my favorite modules' codes...D3, S2, Q1, etc.
But I realized it probably wouldn't work very well. The best modules always had a problem-solving aspect to it that just would never translate well to a the game frameworks that we have now. Neverwinter Nights is just not going to allow you the flexibility to really solve puzzles without cueing you so obviously as to what the solution might be.
The only game framework I could imagine that could really capture the essence of the best modules and campaigns is an Infocom-style framework - where the textual descriptions are so rich and your range of actions so potentially large that the solutions to the problems - and even the problems themselves - aren't painfully obvious. A puzzle isn't very satisfying when you only have to select one of 3 solutions from a menu, or when you just have to show up with an item and walk close to some target character, etc.
But sadly, this framework is almost completely incompatible - almost by definition - with Baldur's Gate-style graphics.
I bought the original edition, 5th or 6th printing, for $3 at a yard sale when I was 12 or something (1986)...then a few years later traded it for a box of Estes model rocket motors! One nerd commodity for another.
I got more "mileage" from the motors however...
8 bit computing - It may be 2007 out there, but it's 1983 in here!!
All of this is especially funny because Wizards (whom I hate because of all of the collectible card games) is in fact the best RPG company I've dealt with. They produce the best qualtiy (and proof-read) books that I've bought in forever. Anyways. Wizards has made a good effort at making all of the old D&D materials available at their site either for free or for a nominal fee and you can download them all as PDFs.
See Wizards page for Classic downloads So ultimately you don't have to go to a pirate site to download someone else's copyrighted materials, but can in fact "do the right thing" and download it for free from wizards or pay for it...
Wizards is committed to making all of the old books available for those of you that "must have them all". It's also probably cheaper then scrounging in old bookstores to get beat up copies of all of the books. Though Ebay might make it easier these days.
http://www.lipsinc.com/qtmovies/summoner.html
This is me at age 13 playing D&D with my friends.
You may be able to find them on Ebay, and Saturn systems are quite cheap these days.
Rob
...It's called "a box in my basement."
Same with a LOT of fandoms. People think that just because they scanned it, they own it. My Little Pony and He-Man fans are the worst.
Lets think for a second.. d&d modules are copyrighted. The site that has those modules is TOTALLY ILLEGAL.
AND YOU JUST WROTE A FRONT PAGE SLASHDOT STORY ON IT?!?!?!?!
The guy at the site is going to be really happy with you, when the site gets shut down, and he gets arrested.
Thank you slashdot, for ruining it for everyone yet again.
...you have to follow the rules closely or you have no game. It would be like letting a guy run down the court with the ball tucked under his arm...that wouldn't be basketball anymore.
And as for the LG comments...
Anyone can be Chaotic, being Lawful (Good, Evil, whatever) is a much more challenging alignment to play. 20 years ago when I used to play AD&D it was so fun to DM a game and try to push a Lawful character outside their alignment...make them do something totally selfish. One Lawful Good character, IMO, was a must for almost any party...they tended to be the glue.
Is anyone else getting weird defects when visiting NWVault in Mozilla? Yesterday any page I tried would load about 90%, then go to gray and start over. Today the pages load but I'm seeing black text on a black background.
Some settings info: no popups, no status bar scripting, no cookies from ign, no 3rd party images
I'll have to pull out my near-mint The Dragons and Strategic Reviews and total them up...
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
I collect 1st edition modules and use this site extensively to guide my bids on e-Bay (Which is an excellent place to get fair to very good modules, but not mint/near mint). Unfortunately, the prices are a bit old and are guided by the auctions at conventions (Which I cannot always get to). The prices on e-Bay these days are much higher, most likely because of the resurgence of D&D with 3rd edition. For example, it is rare to see a good copy of "Egg of the Pheonix" go for less than $100 on e-Bay these days.
Bah. RuleMaster is a pain. Real roleplayers do it with no dice and no rules, just imagination and character play. :p
xDND is like Windows and x86 -- it's annoying and kludgy, still based on old cruft that was a bad idea 25 years ago. But it's also the predominant standard.
Anyone want to complete this analogy for GURPS, Hero System, RuleMaster, RuneQuest, etc? ;)
--FDND now available
but I'm a real life gold dwarf. =)
From Zero to Hero... Starbuck Zero
For that matter, it doesn't cover anything except TSR modules (that's in the FAQ).
:P
I have several Role Aids and Judges Guild modules, but most of my actual AD&D modules were stolen with my first edition books in junior high (someone stole a backpack they were in). Which one of you bastards was it?!?
I first played D&D somewhere in late '79 or early '80. Looking at the Acaeum site and seeing the values placed on some of those modules... I still have quite a lot of them... I don't think I could bring myself to ever part with the stuff. It's been years since I've even looked at it, but somehow, it's a part of my life.
I love computers and computer gaming, but I am really quite glad that I was at just the right age to get involved when D&D was at its peak. (God I feel like an old fart for saying this...) Today's kids will never find the intellectual and creative stimulation from their consoles and gameboys and PCs that many of us did from books and dice and mountains of graph paper. (To this day, I still always keep a pad of the stuff nearby)
I've played through Neverwinter Nights, and enjoyed it thoroughly, but as other posts here have said, much of the joy of roleplaying AD&D is just not possible to emulate in a graphically oriented paradigm. Until someone can develop an AI computer that is 1 part actor, 1 part genius, and 2 parts off its rocker, computer based D&D games will never measure up.
The Digital Sorceress
Verily, thou canst not do even such a thing. For by sooth, thou wouldst say, werest thou worthy of thine attitude, thus: Virg
...that there are those who would pay to see him hung, I think you mean "hanged, drawn and quartered" (at least, I hope you mean that).
Virg
Anyone know of one? I did a little hunting and came up with nothing. I just want to know what i need to play and such.
What does paying someone money have to do with him/her doing a good job?
Especially in the context of the open source / free software movement.
This site looks like a compilation of other sites. If anyone is more deeply interested in the Ravenloft setting check out this site:
http://www.kargatane.com
... [Insert decent Sig]
I'll have to dig my books out to be sure, but it looks like I have a couple of rarity 4's. None better than "Very Good", though.
Who would have thought that the game that got me flunked out of college could be worth something after all?
Chip H.
Hey, um...does anyboyd know how much AC and Magic Resistance of a Gazebo? Or what its Thac0 is?
Nay, I say, for I am unable to train such a recalcitrant beast! but still, well and verily hath I schooled his arse.
Virg
SJGames "GURPS" is Linux, TSRs "Marvel Superheroes (Classic)" was Mac OS7 and Mayfairs "DC Legends" was Amiga.
All you old BBS users might want to check out this website i recently came across. it's a great idea... just needs some use.. it lets you look up old BBS's and get in touch with the users of those systems. http://www.bbsmates.com
Boy that was neat. From figuring out where the authors of Dragonlance got their start to dating yourself by which version of the Basic rules you had (I was 9th-11th printing, it seems), this really is a fun blast from the past if you played some D&D.
:^)
About the only thing I've got worth a rip is my copy of Deities & Demigods, which might be a first print. Every other book still has imprints from placing character sheets over top of them to change armorments, hit points, etc.
Looks like they spent more time on the site than I did playing, and that's saying something. The search page helps if you're like me and remember the pictures on front a little better than the module names.
It's all 0s and 1s. Or it's not.
I remember the first crime committed against me was when I was in high school and some fucking mexican stole my dungeons and dragons book. I knew who it was who stole it (there were only two mexicans in our school) so I'd ask him to return it, but he wouldn't. If it happened today I'd just beat the fucking mexishit senseless, but then I was a limp wristed computer geek, so I just did without it.
For all those commenting that it's not a comprehensive site - read it! http://www.acaeum.com/FrontDesk/Intro.html -> "What You Won't Find Here:
Much information at all on items produced 1990 and later. The primary focus of The Acaeum is on items of collectible value; the sad fact is that most items produced after the mid 1980's are pretty much still going for cover price at auctions."
There are player made modules that are full on riddle fests cut/paste link. http://nwvault.ign.com/Files/modules/categories/Pu zzles2.shtml. One of these requires you to "shout" the correct answer to the riddle... not just pick one off a list. This is an amazingly dynamic system and they are letting the geek player base make it better.
Last time I looked they had 535 player made modules for download off the bioware site. Many of those are remakes of the old modules.
Cogito cogito, igitur cogito sum.
Timing is everything
If you haven't already run across it, Munchkin is a card game that contains a Gazebo monster. The game's pretty good for a laugh.
Now why do guys like you and I know what a gazebo is? Is this essential to our survival,in the hunter-gatherer sense of the word?
Well, neither. Thesedays you can usually find me being hostmaster, postmaster, and even (horror!) webmaster.
Ceci n'est pas un sig.
Player: What is it?
DM: It is a scroll of thesis.
Player: I read it.
DM: You can't, your scroll of thesis is blank!
After reading an enjoyable list of Spells Not Worth Memorising (Tenser's Formatted Disk, Bigby's Insulting Hand, etc.), I was inspired to create the following list of magic items not worth collecting, based heavily on the AD&D 2nd Edition Dungeon Master's Guide.
Armor of Origami
Beads of Sweat
Beard of Disguise
Belt of Tightness
Book of Sticky Pages
Boots of Strolling
Boots of the Mermaid
Carpet of Fraying
Chain Mail G-String +4
Dust of Dirtiness
Elven Chain Letter
Eyes of the Worm
Flooding Boat
Gem of Glinting
Gin Bottle
Hammock of the Titans
Horn at Awkward Moment
Compulsive Lyre
Philter of Lameness
Potion of Belching
Potion of Gargling
Potion of Hedonism
Potion of Water Drinking
Racket of Protection
Robe of Useless Items
Rod of Fishing
Scarab Versus Mecha-Scarab
Scroll of Curing Blindness and Dyslexia (self only)
Slippers of Spider Squashing
Unionised Staff of Striking
Stare of Withering
Stone of Kidney
Sword +-1
Ultimate Solute
Vorpal Guillotine
But I'm sure the rest of you have much funnier suggestions to share.
Ask me if I've been required to disclose any crypto keys.