Fencing in Lords of Creation

Art by Dave Sutherland

The third issue of Avalon Hill's Heroes magazine proclaims on the cover:

Special 12-page Pull Out Game:
Musketeers,
Swashbucklers
& Crimson Pirates

The word “game” implies that it is a complete game.  However, the first page of the twelve page section has the subtitle, “Dueling Rules For Lords Of Creation™.”  So, the “game” is a merely a supplement to the Lords of Creation combat rules.

For purposes of dueling, a Lords of Creation GAME TURN consists of six segments.  In each segment, each duelist performs a maneuver.  Before each GAME TURN, duelists purchase the maneuvers they intend to use.  (The maneuvers selected for a given turn comprise the duelist's maneuver pool.)  Each manuever costs a number of 'segment points'.  (I have no idea why they weren’t called maneuver points.)

Each GAME TURN, a duelist has a number of segment points equal to the sum of his or her INITIATIVE ROLL and the product of his or her number of attacks and the appropriate skill level.  To put it another way:

(1d10 + Initiative Bonus) + (skill × # of attacks) = segment points

If the duelist is using two weapons (such as a dagger and rapier), the average of the two skills is used.  Anyway, six maneuvers are selected, purchased, and written down in secret.  Maneuvers can be performed in any order.  Any given maneuver in the maneuver pool can be performed once (unless the duelist purchased the maneuver more than once).  A duelist with two attacks per turn need only select five maneuvers in advance; a sixth maneuver can be purchased and performed on any segment.  Similarly, a duelist with three attacks per turn need only select four maneuvers in advance.

For a given segment, one duelist announces which attack maneuver he or she performs and the other duelist (if able) responds with an appropriate maneuver.  The duelist with the higher initiative on the first turn has advantage and the option of being the attacker on the first segment.  Depending on which maneuvers the duelists perform in a given segment, advantage can be transferred back-and-forth between the duelists.  On the second and later turns, the duelist who has advantage on the first segment is determined by the maneuvers performed on the last segment of the previous turn.  Initiative is rolled, but only to determine respective amounts of segment points.

There are dozens of maneuvers and each is categorized as either an attack, a defense, a 'gaining the advantage', or a counter attack.  Combat rolls are not made during a duel.  An attack is automatically successful unless the defending duelist can perform a maneuver that works against that specific attack.  A defense maneuver cancels an attack but does not transfer advantage.  A 'gaining the advantage' maneuver cancels an attack and (appropriately) transfers advantage.  A counter attack maneuver cancels an attack, transfers advantage, and launches an attack which the other duelist must attempt to cancel with his or her next maneuver.

Each attack maneuver has an associated defense maneuver, a 'gaining the advantage' maneuver, and a counter attack maneuver.  For example, against a 'thrust' attack, the defense maneuver is 'parry', the 'gaining the advantage' maneuver is 'circular parry', and the counter attack maneuver is 'riposte'.  Also, a 'dodge' maneuver can be used as a defense against most attacks and an 'inquartata' maneuver can be used as 'gaining the advantage' against most attacks.  A duelist targeted by a thrust is hit and suffers damage unless he or she performs a parry, circular parry, riposte, dodge, or inquartata.

Not only are there dozens of maneuvers, but when any maneuver (except, presumably, dodge or inquartata) is purchased, a target (body) area must be selected for that maneuver.  The nine target areas are:  head, chest, abdomen, left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg, left foot, and right foot.  So, against a 'thrust (left leg)' attack, possible response maneuvers are parry (left leg), circular parry (left leg), riposte (left leg), dodge, or inquartata.

The maneuvers a duelist can perform are limited by the 'position' the duelist and his (or her) opponent occupy.  'Position' refers to the distance between characters in a duel.  There are four positions.  Position A is the closest two duelists can be (and still be in a duel).  It is too close for swordplay; the only permitted attacks are punch, kick, and dagger thrust.  Position D is the furthest two duelists can be.  In this position, “The only kind of attack possible is a running attack which automatically carries the duelist closer to his opponent, or a thrown dagger.”  Position B seems to be the default position and offers the most maneuvers.

After purchasing six (or five or four) maneuvers for a given turn, any remaining segment points are 'reserve points'.  Duelists who only needed to acquire four or five maneuvers in advance can use reserve points to purchase their additional maneuvers.  One reserve point can be used to advance or retreat by one position.  One reserve point can be used to alter a maneuver's target area to an “adjacent” area.  (The illustration above shows 'transition areas' that can be used in changing target areas.  For instance, changing from left arm to left leg costs two points.)  Lastly, reserve points can be used to 'delay' a response maneuver so that it can be used against attacks from positions C and D.

Once per combat, a character can perform a Foul Trick, an attack against which there is no normal defense.  The target of a foul trick can spend two reserve points to attempt a Luck roll; if successful, the target takes no damage.  A duelist with a sufficiently high skill has a Secret Attack, which is like an 'honorable' foul trick except the Luck roll attempt costs three reserve points.  Foul tricks and secret attacks can only be used three times (each) by any given character.  Moldvay explains:

In a swashbuckling campaign, any duelist who uses either a foul trick or secret attack a total of three times (each) loses the ability to use that special attack.  In the one case, the duelist gets the reputation as a knave or a blackguard and everyone is thereafter on guard against foul tricks.  In the other case, the secret attack is no longer secret and is, hence, useless.

With the introduction of 'hit locations' to Lords of Creation combat, different effects manifest with different target areas.  Luck rolls can ameliorate these effects.  For instance, hits to the chest cause double damage; with a successful Luck roll, damage is not doubled.  Damage to an arm is halved; unless a Luck roll is successful, an attack to a weapon arm causes the weapon to be dropped.

If a duelist faces more than one opponent at a time, “the single duelist splits his segment points any way he wishes and fights each combat as simultaneous single combats.”

Moldvay offers the following comments:

          I tried to keep the dueling rules from becoming cumbersome.  Emphasis was placed on rapier combat.  The Game Master can alter the dueling rules for other circumstances if he wants.  He could interpose dueling with regular combat.  Thus, opposing musketeers might fire their muskets at duelists; or a pirate might fire a brace of pistols before a duel began.  The GM might add other weapons to the duel.  Pikes (long spears) and a variety of pole arms were common in the Swashbuckling Era.  A Pike would mainly be a thrusting weapon while a pole arm could both thrust and slash.  The Swashbuckling Era also saw strange variations of “weapons” such as rapier and cloak, rapier and bar stool, or rapier and lantern.  If the GM wanted to duplicate ship boarding actions, he could throw in the use of crude black powder grenades or even cannon fire.

Lords of Creation as Space Opera

Art by Dave Billman

Lords of Creation contains a one-and-a-half page description of the 'Imperial Terra' setting.  We learn that:

Terra now rules more than a thousand planets throughout the galaxy.  All of the planets have been Terraformed to approximate the living conditions on the mother world (even so, some of the planets are only marginally inhabitable).  Because of Faster-Than-Light drive (abbreviated FTL) the planets can be reached in days instead of centuries.  Even so, Terra is only able to control such a population because of Luna-X.

Luna-X is a giant, planet-sized computer.  “By law, all computers are linked to Luna-X.”  Emperor Romulus XI also has a mental link – the only one – with Luna-X.  However, “there are are unconfirmed rumors that it is not Romulus who controls Luna-X, but Luna-X who controls Romulus.”  While all of Terra “is one interconnected, giant city,” the emperor resides in the capitol, “the Megalopolis District, located in what used to be the bed of the Mediterranean Sea.”

There are three factors that form the basis of the Imperial administration:  The Lunar Corps, The Fleet, and The Imperial Inspectors.  “The Lunar Corps is both a computerized bureaucracy and a force of secret police.”  Said secret police – The Lunar Police – “have the right to impose sentences on the spot, without trial, unless dealing with a member of The Fleet, or superseded by an Imperial Inspector.”  The Fleet consists of the Hyperspace Navy, the Stellar Marines, and – recruited from the best of these two services – the Imperial Guard (also known as the StarGuard).  (Corvus Andromeda was one of the StarGuard.)

The Imperial Inspectors are another secret organization.  No one knows how they are recruited, paid, or who ultimately controls them.  But when they appear, they are quickly recognized.  Imperial Inspectors have the right of 'high and total justice' even over The Lunar Corps or The Fleet.  Strangely enough, the emphasis really is on justice.  The Imperial Inspectors have a deserved reputation for total honesty, incorruptability [sic], and impartiality.  Their justice is always tempered with mercy.  It is likely that without the ideal of the Imperial Inspectors, the Empire would have dissolved into rebellion and anarchy despite the efforts of The Lunar Corps and The Fleet.  The Imperial Inspectors provide an element of hope, a safety valve that emphasizes slow, peaceful change over bloody rebellion.  Unfortunately, the Imperial Inspectors are few, and the evils they combat are many.

Imperial Terra is only one of the Lands of Wonder, but nothing prevents it from being used as the basis of a space opera campaign outside of the Lords of Creation paradigm.  For Imperial Terra, Tom Moldvay incorporated concepts from various instances of science fiction literature, yet there was likely more to the setting than was published.  The details he provided for the Starnomads suggest as much.  Despite the recycling of a couple of names, Revolt on Antares could easily be part of the Imperial Terra universe.  Other indicators of a more expansive setting can be seen in a two-part article in Avalon Hill's Heroes magazine (issues 2 & 3).  This article allows for the creation of non-human player characters in the Imperial Terra setting.  The article also mentions an adventure module in development, “Voria,” in which such characters could be used.

As indicated in the Lords of Creation rules, 2d10 are rolled for the basic abilities for humans.  However, according to the article, the “minimum basic ability score [for Humans] is 8.”  With regard to non-humans,“Perhaps two-thirds of the population of the Empire are Terran descendants, the rest belong to...seven other (known) space-faring races.”

Art by Dave Billman

ASTREGANS:  In The Book of Foes, the 'n' is left out and this race is referred to as Astregas.  They “are a race of intelligent crustaceans.”  For MUSCLE, SPEED, and STAMINA, the roll is 4d6-1; for MENTAL and LUCK, 2d10.  “Their minimum basic ability score is 6” and they have natural armor of -2.  However, they begin with one less skill.

Art by Dave Billman

DRACONIDS:  They are 8 foot tall, bipedal saurians with prehensile tails.  They are vegetarians and have an easy-going attitude.  For MUSCLE, SPEED, and STAMINA, the roll is 4d6+1; for MENTAL, 2d10; and LUCK, 3d10.  “Their minimum basic ability score is 6” and they start with one less skill.

Art by Dave Billman

FELINES:  “Felines take pride in their extreme sophistication, but often revert to barbarism in times of crisis.”  For MUSCLE, SPEED, and STAMINA, the roll is 3d6+1d10; for MENTAL and LUCK, 2d10.  “Their minimum basic ability score is 6” and they start with one less skill.  Using their claws, Felines cause an additional 1d6 damage in unarmed combat.

Art by Dave Billman

LUPINES:  “The Lupine virtue of loyalty and their vice of vengefulness are renowned throughout the galaxy.”  For MUSCLE, SPEED, and STAMINA, the roll is 2d10+1d6; for MENTAL and LUCK, 2d10.  “Their minimum basic ability score is 7” and they begin with one less skill.  Their vestigial claws “add 1-3 points of damage to unarmed combat.”

Art by Dave Billman

MANTIS LORDS:  They “are 7 foot tall intelligent insects.”  Mantis Lords “appear to be completely paranoid” and “seem to be psychologically incapable of trusting another race enough to sign a peace treaty.”  For MUSCLE, SPEED, and STAMINA, the roll is 2d10+1d6; for MENTAL and LUCK, 2d10.  “Their minimum basic ability score is 7.”  They can use their vestigial wings to lift themselves off of the ground for periods of 1-6 rounds.

Art by Dave Billman

PONGOIDS:  They “are a cross-breed between humans and the great apes.”  They “were held as virtual slaves but won their freedom in the Great Rebellion” (which ended twenty years ago).  For MUSCLE, SPEED, and STAMINA, the roll is 4d10-1; for MENTAL, 2d6; and LUCK, 2d10. “Their minimum basic ability score is 6” and they with two fewer skills.

Art by Dave Billman

PUPPET MASTERS:  “They stand about 3 feet high and weigh roughly 75 pounds.”  A Puppet Master can connect its spine to a victim's spine via an artificial cord and thereby control said victim.  For MUSCLE, SPEED, and STAMINA, the roll is 2d6; for MENTAL, 3d10; and LUCK, 2d10.  “Their minimum basic ability score is 5.”

In addition to the intelligent, star-faring races above, the Heroes article also provides character creation information for the following.

Art by Dave Billman

ANDROIDS:  “It requires a detailed biological analysis to tell Android bodies from normal Human bodies.”  Androids raised under clinical conditions “take pride in their aloofness and rationality.”  However, “Androids created in the fetal stage and raised by Human families show normal Human emotions.”  For all five basic abilities, the roll is 2d10+1.  “Their minimum basic ability score is 7” and they begin with one less skill.  They also have an armor value of -1.

Art by Dave Billman

CYBORGS:  “Some Cyborgs are virtually indistinguishable from a normal Human; others are virtually indistinguishable from a normal machine.”  For MUSCLE, SPEED, and STAMINA, the roll is 4d6; for MENTAL and LUCK, 2d10.  “Their minimum basic ability score is 6” and they begin the game with two fewer skills than starting Human characters.  Cyborgs start with no money but automatically have the first Cyborg power (i.e., Recycling Implant).

Art by Dave Billman

MUTANTS:  They “are often disfigured in various ways and are usually less healthy than Humans.”  For MUSCLE, SPEED, and STAMINA, the roll is 2d6+1; for MENTAL, 4d10; and LUCK, 2d10.  “Their minimum basic ability score is 6” and they start with one less skill.  However, each mutant begins play with the one power – the first power of either Poltergeist, Clairvoyant, Mentat, Telepath, or Magneto.

Art by Dave Billman

ROBOTS:  “Robot player-characters have not been playtested,” Moldvay informs us.  “If introduced into a campaign, they will require a fair amount of work on the GM's part.”  Still, Moldvay suggests a roll of 3d10 for each basic ability and an armor value of -3.

Player-character Robots would suffer from several liabilities.  Any computer technician or engineer with the Robotic skill level could completely re-program Robots, making them difficult to play as player-characters.  While Robots should be able to progress by gaining experience, such progress would have to be accompanied by actual physical changes (new memory circuits; larger, tougher body, etc.)  Some of the skills and powers would be illogical for a Robot (a Robot acrobat?, a Robot necromancer?).

Powers in Lords of Creation

Art by Dave Billman

In Lords of Creation, there are twelve power sets, each with a hierarchy of five more-or-less related powers.  Sometimes, Moldvay refers to these sets as 'classes'.  However, he also uses the term 'class' in reference to how these sets are grouped.  There are three power groups (or types):  Magical, Psychic, and Futuristic.  These types “help show what type of setting is most appropriate for the various powers.”  According to the Setting Index optional rule, “each of the three types of powers would be categorized one of three ways” in any given setting.  Either a power type works in the setting, “that type of power has only a 50% chance to work in the setting, or that type of power will not work in the setting.”  For example, Moldvay posits a GM could decide that for a 20th century setting:  a 50% Psychic Index, a 50% Technology Index, and a “no” Magic Index.  (Apparently, 'Technology' equates to 'Futuristic'.)  “These three simple classifications,” Moldvay informs us, “give 27 different possible combinations for setting classifications.”

The dozen power sets, along with their associated powers, are listed below, grouped according to type:

MAGICAL

• Adept (Remove Magic, Magic Armor, Magic Weapon, Magic Prison, Shape Shift)
• Invoker (Elemental Shaping, Invoke Elementals, Possession, Elemental Body, Dimension Walking)
• Sorcerer (True Sight, Fascination, Illusion, Enchanted Sleep, Animation)
• Wizard (Animal Control, Necromancy, Fly, Curse, Storm)

PSYCHIC

• Clairvoyant (Clairvoyance, Cure, Psychometry, Precognition, Photon Ray)
• Mentat (Hypnosis, Persuasion, Altered Features, Metamorphosis, Mass to Energy)
• Poltergeist (Sound Control, Telekinesis, Apportation, Gravity Field, Teleportation)
• Telepath (Mind Block, ESP, Telepathy, Neural Overload, Forced Rapport)

FUTURISTIC

• Cyborg (Recycling Implant, Weapon Implant, Plasteel Body, Exoskeleton, Back-up Metabolism)
• Magneto (Electrosensing, Electrosleep, Energy Field, EM Tuning, Energy Beam)
• Projector (Sensual Chaos, Invisibility, Fear, Hallucination, Automaton)
• Somatron (Physical Control, Dermal Armor, Regeneration, Energy Absorption, Shock Control)

Player characters do not begin with any of these powers, but when they gain powers, “they must always choose the powers in order within a category.”  As an example, Moldvay informs us that a “character could not choose the Magneto power of Energy Field until he or she already had both the Magneto powers of Electrosensing and Electrosleep.”  Non-player characters are not bound by these restrictions.  For instance, the write-up of Circe in The Book of Foes indicates she has the Wizard powers of Animal Control and Storm, but none of the intermediate Wizard powers.  Incidentally, Hercules has most of the Somatron powers even though they are Futuristic.

Unfortunately, Moldvay does not disclose exactly how player characters may obtain these powers.  In the Lords of Creation Introduction, we are told:

As the characters continue to gain experience, they will gain special powers.  When a character qualifies for a special power, the player should read PART 6 – POWERS to decide what power their character chooses.

This suggests that acquiring powers is dependant upon gaining experience.  It also suggests that players select the powers they want their characters to have.  Page 29 specifically states, “When characters choose powers, they can choose freely from any category except Cyborg.”  Cyborg powers can only be obtained in a futuristic setting hospital and the “character will also be charged a fee for the surgery...”

A study of the published adventure The Horn of Roland does little to educate the prospective GM as to how player characters should gain powers.  In one encounter ancillary to the plot, a single character makes a Luck Roll:

If successful, the individual gains the power of Clairvoyance.  If unsuccessful, the character's mental ability is immediately reduced to 2.

In another ancillary encounter, it is possible for a single character – after winning a series of combats – to gain “the power of True Sight.”  Neither of these circumstances involves a character choosing freely (or even the character being aware that a power may be gained as a result of the circumstance).  As such, they do not seem to conform to how Moldvay intimates characters gain powers.  Although Moldvay wrote several articles about Lords of Creation in the periodical Heroes, in none of them does he touch upon power acquisition.  This seems to be an oversight of a vital aspect of the game.

Art by Dave Billman

Saga of the Starnomads (Part I)

Art by Dave Billman

In Lords of Creation, Tom Moldvay offers seven settings.  One of these, Imperial Terra, is a space opera venue.  “Because of a series of man-made catastrophes,” states the description, “details of entire centuries of history have been lost, so it is impossible to date the Empire using 20th century time references.”  (Corvus Andromeda comes from Imperial Terra.)  The Rule Book has one-and-a-half pages dedicated to the details of Imperial Terra.  About one-quarter of a page is devoted to describing the Starnomads.  According to The Book of Foes, “A Starnomad is a member of a wandering futuristic culture that practices genetic selection of the fittest.”

Evidently, Moldvay put a great deal of thought into the Starnomads.  I think they're elitist jerks, but I'm just a mudhugger. To the premier issue of Heroes, Avalon Hill's magazine, Tom Moldvay contributed a Lords of Creation adventure, “Survival Run of the Starnomads.”  (However, the adventure refers to itself as “The STARNOMAD SURVIVAL MAZE.”)  In the 'Designer's Note' for the adventure, Moldvay explains, “In the summer of 1979, I designed a game system entitled 'Starnomads' for the amusement of my friends and myself.”  He further explains that the game system “was the grandfather of LORDS OF CREATION®.”

Along with the adventure, Moldvay provides an 'Historical Background' for the Starnomads, some of which is duplicative of the material in the Imperial Terra setting description.  The first part of this background follows.

Hero Points in James Bond 007

The 'Glossary of Terms' in the James Bond 007 rules defines Hero Points as:

Points which may be used by a player to alter the Quality Rating of a dice result in any manner he chooses.  The use of Hero Points allows failure to become success, and certain death to become only a graze.

Although only two pages, the rulebook devotes a chapter to Hero Points, clarifying their use.  As indicated in a previous post, a task can have five possible outcomes, failure and four Quality Ratings of success.  The spectrum of possibilities can be represented thusly:

QR1 (excellent) – QR2 (very good) – QR3 (good) – QR4 (acceptable) – failure

Immediately after the dice are rolled and the result determined, a player may alter the result by one step per Hero Point spent.  The example of play includes the scene in Goldfinger where Bond is strapped to a table and threatened by a laser.  (In the example of play, the movie scene is described on the left column of a page while the right column shows the conversation between the GM and Bond's player as they play through the scene.)  Bond's player has Bond attempt to Persuade Goldfinger to keep him alive.  The player barely succeeds with his roll and the GM states it will take three Hero Points to obtain a result wherein Goldfinger is convinced (i.e., changing a Quality Rating of 4 to a Quality Rating of 1).  We see that Hero Points can cause an unlikely (yet possible) result that nonetheless accurately represents the source material.

Robert Kern, credited as “Game Development and James Bond Savant,” wrote in Heroes (Vol. 1, No. 6), “The hardest part is visualizing the varying degrees of success.”  Kern encourages developing the habit of “telling the player the possible outcomes ahead of time” (i.e., before the player rolls).  According to the rules, “You can also spend Hero Points to change the Quality Rating of a dice roll performed by the GM for any task directed against your character.”  Also, “If the GM is rolling the dice to resolve any hidden task (whether for your character or an NPC), your Hero Points can be used to improve that result as well.”  By definition, players cannot be aware of the possible outcomes of a “hidden task.”  In such a situation, a player would be spending Hero Points blindly; it is possible to waste one or more Hero Points if the hidden result turned out to be Quality Rating 1 – the best possible result.  Also, Hero Points can only be used to “improve” the result of a hidden task.

The GM permitting, “you can spend Hero Points to affect the environment in your character's favor.”  Such alterations should be reasonable in scope; spending Hero Points to, for instance, “change a snowstorm into balmy weather” should not be permitted.

“Fellow Secret Agents working on the same side as the Player Characters” are also entitled to Hero Points.  Besides Hero Points, there are Survival Points, which are defined by the 'Glossary of Terms' as “Points given to Masterminds and Privileged Henchmen...which negate the Hero Points used against them by Player Characters.”  This definition does not correspond to how Survival Points are explained in the Hero Points chapter.  In that chapter, we are told, “NPCs use their Survival Points to alter Quality Ratings of any tasks directed at them, never to alter the Quality Rating of any dice roll for them.”

So how does a player character acquire Hero Points?  This is a good question.  “The rate at which you award Hero Points will affect the tenor of your campaign,” the rules tell us.  With too few Hero Points, the campaign will not accurately represent the Bond milieu ; with too many, player characters “will be able to pull off some amazing feats with regularity.”  The rules say that the process described for awarding Hero Points “is admittedly rather conservative.”  In short, every time a character rolls a Quality Rating 1 result (except combat rolls) he or she gains a Hero Point.  This means that more-skilled characters will have more Hero Points since they can more easily obtain Quality Rating 1 results.  “This is to be expected,” according to the rules.  It also means characters earn Hero Points – which can be construed as 'luck' – by making lucky rolls.  In essence, the lucky get luckier – a disparity with which I am not entirely comfortable.  Additionally, a player may be tempted to engage upon numerous, useless tasks in order to cultivate Hero Points.  Such activity (“for example, trying a Seduction attempt with every female in a gambling establishment”) should be “penalized,” the rules state.  The penalty, however, is denying “the player any Hero Points.”

Other methods of awarding Hero Points are expanded upon by Neil Randall, one of two people credited with Systems Development for the James Bond 007 game, in an article in Heroes (Vol. 1, No. 2).  Fortunately, Heroes editor William E. Peschel interrupts this article to inform readers, “This is okay.”  It's always nice when someone who had nothing to do with creating the game validates a statement by one of the Systems Developers.  Anyway, Randall indicates that, in the games he runs, “players don't roll the dice very often.”  Therefore, he allows “Hero Points for all Quality Rating 1 results, whether they occur in Combat, Chases, Characteristic rolls, Skill rolls, or Ability rolls.”  Randall includes “Characteristic rolls” even though he recognizes that “characteristic rolls don't use the Quality Rating system.”  Randall also suggests the possibility of assigning Hero Points as a reward for good role playing:

Say, for instance, the character rushes into a burning building to rescue the lovely young lady trapped inside.  Award a Hero Point or two.  Award a Hero Point for helping a fellow agent beyond the call of duty, especially if it does not impede the mission.  Award a Hero Point for figuring out a very difficult clue...

Should rescuing a homely young lady garner more or less Hero Points?  Randall notes that rewards for good role-playing officially come in the form of additional Experience Points; however, “there is no nicer feeling for the player than to be rewarded instantly for an action which is directly the result of playing within the Bond genre.”

Inspiration: Wizards

Here is a game which draws its strength from the reality of the powers beyond, where ritual, art, and music have the ability to change the course of events, and where mystical enchantments become real, not only in the world of WIZARDS, but in our world as well.

– Avalon Hill advertisement

Wizards, Coral J. F. Mosbø © 2015; used with permission

Once upon a time, “our culture [became] more and more ego-centric and materialistic, epitomized by psychologists who encouraged us to become 'self-actualized,' with no responsibility toward the feelings of others.”  Additionally, “The genre of High Fantasy [fell] prey to the 'Gates of Delirium' syndrome” and “fighting and the violence [became] the most important thing, and Good [was] turned to Evil.”  Those dark times were “the Eighties.”  In response to this iniquitous age, “the initial concept for Wizards was born: a game which would once again portray the Good side of things: the Light, the Mystery, the Calling to the Heavenly Realm.”

The quotes above are from an exegesis of the game¹ by Thomas Mosbø, co-designer (along with Coral Mosbø) of Wizards, an Avalon Hill bookcase game published in 1982.  A portion of the above image was used for the box cover.  The full image features three of the titular Wizards; according to the indicia of their staves, they are (L to R):  Aevarex (“fairest of the High Wizards, Healer of Harms”), Ishkatar (“the greatest of all beings that inhabit the Enchanted Isles”), and Tolmitar (“possesses intense mental energies of Light”).  Incidentally, the Wizards “have existed from beyond time.”

Diverse elements combined to influence the creation Wizards; among these are:  Tolkien, cultural anthropology, prog rock (a Yes song is quoted on the second page of the rules), and Zoroastrianism.  Doubtless, the most important influence came from the Wizards and Elflords.  According to the designers' notes for the game:

In Gaming, as in Ritual and Art, players act out truths.  The world of the Game is a real world – the actions which transpire throughout its course are real events, and the personalities encountered have actual existence.  The players enter the world of the Game, experiencing and establishing the truths of that world.  But these truths are not locked only into the world of the Game, for by playing it the players make its truths realities in our world.

Therefore, “...we have hope that in actually playing Wizards, some good will come into our world, increasing the values expressed through the symbols our game.”¹

The game takes place in the Enchanted Islands.  At the beginning of each game, players distribute territory tiles (examples of which are displayed at the conclusion of this post) upon a game board representing water.  Thus, each playing of the game allows for a distinct configuration of areas.  The Enchanted Islands are afflicted by the Evil Spirit.  Only the High Druid Priest Rüktal can permanently defeat the Evil Spirit by casting “the Spell of Spells.”  In order to cast said spell, Rüktal needs a set of Sacred Gems which the High Wizards keep.  This is where the players come in.  Each player must join one of the Magical Orders (Wizard, Sorcerer, or Druid), develop abilities, eventually collect the Sacred Gems and then deliver them to Rüktal.

Sorcerer, Wizard, & Druid, Coral J. F. Mosbø © 2015; used with permission

For much of the game, players complete tasks drawn from a deck of task cards.  Examples of tasks include:

Recover the wandering Dreamer, Solina, from a random COMMON OR ELVEN space.  Return her to Belbidar, Warden of the Crescent Ridge A4 Common Town.

Escort Truvior and Corianna from the Glendale C3 Elven Dwelling to the Star Crest to perform the Star Dance for the Awakening of the Mysteries of Hope.

Release the soul of a Dolphin from its spellbound entrapment in a RANDOM space.  Return the soul to the Sea at least TWO Water spaces from land.

Successfully completing tasks improves one or more attributes (Knowledge, Perception, and Power).  By improving attributes, 'players' can advance to higher ranks of a Magical Order, thereby gaining new or improved spells.  Examples of spells include Boat Summoning, Swiftness, and Demon Dispelling.

Each turn represents a day of game time.  Every fortnight, “the Evil Spirit” attacks.  At first, the attacks are limited to placing demons and transporting the 'players' randomly.  Starting on the third fortnight, the Evil Spirit will “take over” a territory, effectively removing that territory from play.  The only way to prevent this for a given fortnight is for the players to successfully complete ten tasks.  Essentially, the action in Wizards is a 'pick-up and deliver' routine – made progressively more difficult as areas are removed from play.  As Mosbø states,  “Wizards is a race rather than a combat.”²  Since one of the Wizards is a traitor, there is also a mystery/deduction component.

The game is quasi-cooperative.  In his exegesis, Mosbø claims, “a game which must have a winner must be competitive, and so we limited considerably the options for cooperation.”¹  Why must the game have an individual winner?  The 'competition' is against the game mechanism of the Evil Spirit.  Even without 'limited cooperation', a single winner could be determined not by who completes the delivery of Sacred Gems first but instead by a player's total points or number of successfully performed tasks.  There can still be tension as player may, at certain times in the game, decide between 'going for points' or working toward the common good.  With the game's winning condition as it is, there is an effectively infinite supply of each type of Sacred Gem – each player collects his or her own set and (should any be lost or stolen) additional instances are available.  This profusion of Sacred Gems does not seem realistic (as opposed to spell-trapped dolphin souls).

The world of Wizards and its predicament could easily serve as the basis for a role-playing campaign, especially one not focused on violence.  The backstory of the Enchanted Islands is more extensive than what I covered here.  The tasks offer a variety of interesting adventure seeds.

Art by Coral J. F. Mosbø

Art by Coral J. F. Mosbø

¹  “Rivers of Thought.”  Heroes (Vol. 1, No. 5)
²  “Tactics and Strategy in Wizards.”  Heroes (Vol. 1, No. 5) 

Heroes 1.2

All of the cool kids already know this, but your humble host thinks it's time to spread the word.  David Millward, author of Heroes, is republishing his "role playing game set in the dark ages."  Although he might make available the original version, it is a 1.2 version he definitely intends on releasing.  You can read about it at the official website.

Although the game provides a fictional setting, Heroes is firmly based upon tenth century Europe.  You want historical accuracy?  Heroes has it.  Your humble host is given to understand that Millward has been a teacher – he isn’t some punk who read a couple of Time-Life books and decided to write a role-playing game.  Historically accurate and it's old school; Millward supplies details that modern RPGs might gloss over or intentionally exclude.  Evidently, you can lose experience points by not carousing!

Alas, I must release my inner pedant.  The game is meant to take place (or at least begin) in the year 950 AD [sic].  "AD" means, of course, anno Domini – indicative of the Christian era.  Properly, AD should precede the year, not follow it; thus, the year AD 950.  Yes, I know that some "authorities" say that AD following the year is acceptable.  However, unless and until Fowler’s approves of this deviant practice, I will stand firm in my righteous pedantry.  Thank you for your indulgence in this matter.

Anyway, if you have any interest, please visit the site and contact Millward.