Quantcast
Channel: Mesmerized by sirens

Fantasy rpg history: The Complete Warlock (August 1975) (Page 6)

0
0
Whereas we find an amusing look at how much a character is entitled to progress during each adventure, and where we are told the first basics of how Magic works.






Fantasy rpg history: The Complete Warlock (August 1975) (Page 7)

0
0
I was amazed today to read this long explanation of how Magic works, considering that it was written in August, 1975.

Doesn't it pre-dates the AD&D magic system? (I mean, everything that it describes without taking into account the spell points system). That is, the maximum spell level attainable by magic users, how many spells he can cast, etc...

Also, i find it highly commendable that, as you can read, a distinction has been drew between magic and miracles.



The Armory's 30 Sided Dice Gaming Tables (1982)

Time to fall in love again

0
0
Sorry folks for my absence and the lack of posts; just when i had planned to make a series of posts for slowly examining "The Compleat Warlock" rpg, i stumbled upon an old game (and i fell in love!) a game  that i had almost forgotten- i mean, it's not that i forgot this very well known rpg, but this particular edition (the 3rd) and it's charm had eluded me and had almost waned from my teenage memories.

I am talking about Runequest 3rd edition published in 1987 by Avalon hill/ Games workshop...i recently got a copy of this and i was, well,...mesmerized-
This 3rd edition is lavishly illustrated and the paintings are gorgeous in UK "White dwarf style", and moreover the content seems to be straight my cup of tea, with several "not-so-easy" rules tables to grasp in what looks like an attempt at providing realism (particularly,  combat realism).

But, man! The monster volume which accompanies this volume was the last strike and paralyzed my will. The fantastic and malignant illustrations to be found therein, along with stats such as "monster fatigue points"...i'm in love. I think that's my game. And there's even "Advanced Runequest" with more rules for those inclined to achieve more precision whilst gaming...how was it that these three volumes skipped my radar for so long?

Actually it's not that i was not aware of their existence, but they were like buried in my memories, but i vividly recall that as a teenager they impressed me and sparked my imagination just by looking at the covers (yes, the covers are that important). But i had never physically owned them. Until now.

So now i am in the process of reading it, hence my silence. It seems that i am embarking in a new and exciting journey. As always, the motto "too many games, too little time" is still true and reasonates with me.

Besides, i acquired a copy of the very first edition of "Thieves Guild" by Gamelords and all the ten supplements....so now more than ever i am surrounded by any kind of old fantasy system imaginable since my collection has grown really too big at this point and i must admit that i am confused :)




Historic D&D canpaign returns

0
0

Press Release:
Historic Dungeons & Dragons® Campaign Returns

Loxley, Madison WI, August 11 2017

Legendary game designer Frank Mentzer, famed for his worldwide version of the Dungeons & Dragons® game, has teamed with fiction author Ted Fauster to revisit one of the earliest known D&D® fantasy worlds. The game continues to be one of the most popular of all time, and Mentzer’s version is still available in fourteen languages, on every continent.

In 1981, Mentzer was given written permission from E. Gary Gygax (co-author of the original game in 1974) to establish and develop this little-known portion of Oerth, one of the game’s original settings. This new realm of Empyrea has a 40-year history (starting with simple materials from Judges Guild) and is still actively used. The artist Darlene, who painted Gary’s maps in his 1980 product, will create similar maps for this one. Other famous artists of that era -- including Caldwell, Dee,  Diesel, Easley, Elmore, Holloway, Jaquays, and Otus -- are being invited to join the project.

Empyrea is on the mysterious and isolated continent of Aquaria, east of Gygax’s World of Greyhawk™ setting. Until now, knowledge of this portion of the world has remained largely a mystery, as the broad and dangerous Solnor ocean separates the two. The continent is briefly described in the Advanced D&D® adventure “Egg of the Phoenix” (Mentzer & Jaquays, TSR Inc., 1987).

“It’s time to share this Dungeons & Dragons® world with hobby gamers,” Mentzer says. “Unlike others, Gary approved this personally. Empyrea combines both traditional fantasy and science fiction elements. Magic is dominant, but technology lurks. And it’s one Realm… this isn’t a cluster of medieval city-states like Greyhawk.”

Author Ted Fauster has accepted the role of Creative Aide, which was Mentzer’s original title when he worked with Gygax at TSR in the 1980s.

Mentzer and Darlene will finance the set through crowdfunding, with support from Judges Guild. It will be compatible with the most recent Fifth Edition D&D® game (D&D 5E) as well as Mentzer’s own world-famous "Red Box" edition of the game.

An official start date for the Kickstarter will be announced shortly after the GenCon® 50 Game Convention in August.

For More Information, contact:
Loxley LLC
Mentzer: LoxleyKey@gmail.com
Fauster : ted@tedfauster.com
(Ownership of trademarks indicated is not disputed)

The Beast of Averoigne

Your rare chance to get a copy of Phantasy Conclave

0
0

This one is pretty rare...maybe you think the price is high, but it is said only 1,000 copies were ever printed. And, it is damning old-school.

LINK HERE.

"Drakar och Demoner" decrypted.

0
0
Drakarochdemoner.jpg

Have you ever played Drakar och Demoner?

Probably not. And neither do i.
It was first published in 1982 and so it belongs to the kind of stuff i deal with on this blog, namely vintage fantasy role-playing games.

Sometimes the language can be an insourmountable barrier and prevents us to have a new gaming experience.
Until someone decides to translate a game in order to present it to the english-speaking world.

That is why, we'll probably be able to have a glimpse of this old fantasy rpg for the first time, thanks to this kickstarter.

It corresponds to the 8th incarnation of DOD, called Trudvang.





Edgar Allan Poe's anonymous lithographies

0
0
I recently stumbled upon some amazing, otherwordly lithographies of Edgar Poe's works.

The author is unknown, i contacted the owner of these and after examining them he could not trace a signature or anything that might help shed some light on who produced them.











A valiant, gallant OSR blog post.

0
0


Do yourself a favour and go check the beautiful post over at Delta's D&D Hotspot blog.

This is really a thorough old-school post. I wish i could see more posts like this nowadays in the OSR community. It is a scholarly analysis of an old article penned in White Dwarf magazine in the past by Don Turnbull.

Not only that, the blog owner also provided the full scan of the three-part article for anyone to peruse and study. Kudos to you!

LINK

D&D variant: specialty mages

Averoigne gazetteer

Magic kisses in AD&D (Adventure gaming magazine - September, 1981)

Bifrost (Skytrex, 1977) resurrected!

0
0
Roughly one month ago or so, i opened my mail folder and i found a peculiar letter sent to me. It was written by John, who informed me to be one of the authors of a very old and very rare fantasy role-playing game called Bifrost.

Well, now i am especially aware of this game, i even wrote something about it many years ago on this blog (you can read the post HERE). John told me that "he believed that Bifrost should be made available to the world and it should be resurrected", but that he only owned volume 1,2 and 4 of the game and that in order to do that he needed volume 3 but that it was missing in his collection, so he asked me if i happened to have a copy.


Now, Bifrost was one of the thoughest rpg for me to collect. I grabbed the volumes from different sources through many years of hard searching and labour. It seemed that volume three was the hardest to obtain but one day i found out a guy on a French forum who claimed to own it, i contacted him and after some time (i had to beseech him, really) he was so kind to send me black and white photocopies of volume three through postal mail. So i had it!

I told John that yes, i had all four volumes and that i was certainly interested in this project, these sort of things are the reasons why i opened this blog,after all!

So we started a correspondence and eventually i scanned the volume he missed and sent it to him.
Bifrost is a game that has eluded american players because as far as i know it was distributed mainly in Britain at the time of its publication.
I remember that other bloggers asked for it (see HERE, for instance).
Now we are putting together all the stuff. The idea is to publish a FREE PDF of the game combining together all the four volumes. The interesting thing is that John has assembled a lot of notes on how to play (from a game master's perspective) and showed me this stuff. In addition, he owns additional and unofficial rules for Bifrost along with essays which were never published and those can be added to the overall game. So there is actually more stuff you can dream of!

John is actually working on it and i will use this platform to keep you updated.
In the meantime i am sharing with you the first portion (the first nine pages) of Bifrost volume 1. I will try to add more as time passes, in order to give you a glimpse of the game and what you might expect from it.















Bifrost: individual abilities & other stuff


Chivalry & Sorcery 5th edition Kickstarter!

0
0

Today is the official day for the launch of this amazing kickstarter.
Chivalry & Sorcery is a game almost as old as Dungeons & Dragons dating back to 1977 when the first edition was published. 

(And, by the way, I still have to find a fantasy rpg which has such a profound and fascinating rules on magic). 

Need i tell you more? Here's the link for the kickstarter! 

C&S KICKSTARTER 

Starstone - A Mediaeval FRP Campaign (1982)

0
0
This is indeed VERY rare.




Follow THIS path.

The RPG Interview Room: Chivalry & Sorcery – the Medieval Role Playing Game

0
0
 Chivalry & Sorcery


When Steve Turner, from Britannia Game Design fell in love with Chivalry & Sorcery, he not just decided to play it, but also to keep at it for years and years and eventually buy the license so he could release more versions of the game and go to Kickstarter with the latest one.

Improving on a classic is not easy, though and I wanted to find out about how the game has changed throughout the years and what it does now differently than before.

For a game that is mean to be as historically accurate as a game with magic can be, and one that promises to keep religion as true to reality as possible, I was curious because that is a rather tall order.
So I interviewed Steve Turner to ask about what makes Chivalry & Sorcery a game worth investing in.

Listen to the interview at the following

LINK

PARCHMENTS FROM THE CATACOMB!

0
0



My new project is hosted at the following LINK

Played Dragon Warriors

0
0


We played Dragon Warriors rpg yesterday evening. Just the very basic rules in book I, without even Sorcerers or Mystics.

Rules are very easy and the players appreciated them. Mind you, "easy" does not necessarily mean they are silly or not realistic enough.

Want to try it?

Just assign an ATTACK SCORE and DEFENCE SCORE to your Knight or Barbarian.

If you hit with a d20 roll (attack score MINUS defence score of your foe) you have to see if your blow passed beyond the armour factor of the opponent.

This is the second roll to to be made during combat.

A suite of plate armour gives AF 5 for instance but EACH weapon has a different die to roll in order to see if the blow goes beyond the armour. 

 If it is successful, you score the damage. EACH weapon does a different damage.

Besides, you can split your DEFENCE SCORE between more than one adversary if you choose to do so. You must announce this before the round begins.

It means that if you are being attacked by more than one foes you may decide for that single round to split your DEFENCE SCORE, say you have a defence score of 13, you split it to 5 for the first orc and 6 for the other one.

 That's it. You are playing Dragon Warriors.

A soundtrack for your Clark Ashton Smith's inspired adventures

0
0

 This is macabre. Albums such as this should get wider audience.

Possibly the rarest fantasy rpg in existence

0
0

And the one i covet the most.

Manual of the Eternal Sages, Scott J Compton 1993.

 





 


Mach the first colony (1982)

0
0

I have finally put my hands on "Mach, the first colony". 

I wonder if anyone has ever played this.

 Grognardia spoke about this game here.

 

0.png1.png2.png3.png4.png5.png6.png






Tales of the grotesque

Fantasy paths (1981)

0
0

 Three rarities from 1981.






Latest Images