The Arduin Adventure Bibliography

Detail from the back cover of Michael Whelan's
Wonderworks: Science Fiction and Fantasy Art

Role-playing game bibliographies (or ‘Appendices N’ as the case may be) tend to list two categories of material:  research works and genre literature.  Depending upon the game, ‘literature’ may be inclusive enough to accommodate motion pictures, television programs, and even music as sources of inspiration.  In addition to including the aforementioned types, Hargrave embraces the aphorism that a picture is worth a thousand words and indicates specific art books in the bibliography for The Arduin Adventure (hereinafter ArdAdv).  Although it makes perfect sense, art books are not commonly acknowledged as RPG inspirations.  Hargrave specifies the following art books:  Alien Landscapes, Beauty and the Beast, Faeries, Giants, Solar Wind, Tomorrow and Beyond, and Wonderworks.  Also, I suppose we can categorize An Atlas of Fantasy as an art book.

Hargrave ends the bibliography with a few items that “have served as wonderful sources of fun and ideas.”  Included among these are Elfquest as well as Marvel Comics (“An unlikely, but valuable source of inspiration”).  If we count art books as sources of inspiration, there is no reason why we should construe comic books as an ‘unlikely’ source.  For whatever reason, Hargrave singles out Marvel Comics.  Surely, if Elfquest makes the grade, Marvel cannot be the exclusive source of inspiration among comic books.  Given Hargrave’s acknowledgement of comics and art books (especially the Achilléos book), I find it strange that Hargrave doesn’t mention Heavy Metal.  The remaining ‘wonderful source of fun and ideas’ is “The entire works of J.R.R. Tolkein.”  Complementing that assertion is the inclusion of The Complete Guide to Middle Earth and A Tolkien Bestiary in the bibliography.

For “expanded insight into what is happening in the fantasy gaming world,” Hargrave lists three periodicals:  Alarums and Excursions, Different Worlds, and Sorcerer’s Apprentice.  Notably absent is Dragon ; it’s good enough to advertize in but not good enough to endorse.

Some role-playing games have bibliographies that reference other RPGs; ArdAdv is not one of those games.  However, Hargrave does mention Chaosium's Authentic Thaumaturgy.  Speaking of Chaosium, the RuneQuest (Second Edition) bibliography lists the first three Arduin books in the ‘Other Fantasy Role-Playing Games’ section.  Additionally, the ArdAdv and Runequest bibliographies have one non-fiction work in common – George Cameron Stone’s A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times, Together with Some Closely Related Subjects.

Along with Authentic Thaumaturgy, the ArdAdv bibliography has a variety of books about magic – from reasonably academic texts like The Complete Illustrated Book Of The Psychic Sciences and The Supernatural to the rather eccentric The Morning of the Magicians.  Hargrave also has The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft & Demonology.  As shown in a prior post, Hargrave prefers to spell magic with a ‘k’; he even alters the spelling when the word ‘magic’ appears in the title of a book.  Therefore we see in the bibliography “The Encyclopedia of Magik & Superstition” (sic) as well as “Magik, White and Black” (sic).

Hargrave carries his interest in Japan over into Arduin.  We find in the bibliography Secrets of the Samurai, Japanese Short Stories, Martial Arts (although the title is generic, the book focuses on Japanese martial arts), and – in another instance of ‘magik’ versus ‘magic’ – “Seven Magik Orders” (sic).  The only other reference to a (real world) culture in the bibliography is in the form of The Phoenicians.

Several books in the ArdAdv bibliography discuss fantasy creatures.  Aside from such books listed above, Hargrave includes An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Mysterious Monsters, and Zoo of the Gods.

The Fantasy Almanac has earned a place in the ArdAdv bibliography.  The remaining ‘reference books’ can be sorted into two types:  mythology (The New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology, Men of the Earth) and history (War Through The Ages, Medieval Warfare).

In terms of ‘traditional’ fantasy literature (besides Tolkien), Hargrave gives “Personal thanks” to Robert Asprin, Stephen R. Donaldson, and lastly, C. A. Smith “for his fantastic tales of wonder and glory, but mostly for Zothique, the true progenitor of ARDUIN.”

Gallytrots, Spoorns, and Tantarrabobs

The Two Damsels Rescue Roger from the Rabble (by H. J. Ford)

In this special Christmas Eve installment of Thoul's Paradise, we present an article from Michael Aislabie Denham.  Citing no less an authority than the Bard, Denham assures us that this night shall not be plagued by ghosts nor any other malevolent, supernatural entities.  Denham supplies an abundant list of said entities from folklore of the British Isles; indeed, presentation of the list seems to be the whole point of the article.  Many names are familiar, yet many are unfamiliar.  Among the more familiar terms, we see a reference to “hobbits.”  Apparently, Denham's article is the first written mention of hobbit as some sort of creature.  Absent this distinction, I suspect Denham's efforts would suffer from more profound obscurity than they already do.  Tolkien assumed he originated the word hobbit and had no recollection of being previously exposed to it.  Given that Tolkien was a linguist well-read in folklore, we cannot dismiss the possibility of prior exposure; regardless, there is a certain difference between 'being exposed' to something and 'consciously using' that something.

Happy holidays!

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) 

Here There Be Monsters

Art by Liz Danforth

The Dungeon Masters Guide devoted seven paragraphs to the idea of “The Monster as a Player Character.”  Basically, Gygax advised that players should not be allowed to play monster characters.  At one point, he relented enough to state, “The truly experimental-type player might be allowed to play...a monster character for a time so as to satisfy curiosity.”  At the end of an essay of discouragement, Gygax finally said Dungeon Masters can do what they want with their own worlds but still admonished, “you are virtually on your own with regard to monsters as player characters.”  This dissuasive attitude was something of a departure from Holmes' remarks two years earlier:  “At the Dungeon Master's discretion a character can be anything his or her player wants him to be.  Characters must always start out inexperienced and relatively weak...”  While permissive, Holmes supplied no other guidance.

Not only did Tunnels & Trolls allow player characters to be monsters, but Ken St. Andre designed a T&T compatible game where player characters could only be monsters.  This game – Monsters! Monsters! – was published three years before Gygax advised against the concept and one year before Holmes' minimal concession.

The original Tunnels & Trolls did not have descriptions for monsters.  Dungeon Masters – yes, the original rules referred to Dungeon Masters – were expected to design their own.  However, monsters in T&T were defined by a number called 'monster rating'.  “Very puny monsters...have ratings below 30,” St. Andre wrote, “Very powerful monsters might have individual ratings up in the hundreds.”  The number of dice rolled for a monster in combat was based on its rating (eventually simplified to monster rating divided by ten).  On the first 'conflict turn', half of the monster rating was added to the dice total.  On subsequent conflict turns, only one-quarter was added.  Damage was subtracted from monster rating; as monsters suffered damage, the damage they were able to inflict was reduced.

Monsters! Monsters! was “produced and edited” by Steve Jackson and was published by Metagaming.  Monster ratings weren't a part of M!M! ; each monster was a character and was defined by attributes just like “normal” player characters.  A player could choose a type of monster to play or draw a random playing card; each of the 52 monsters on the monster table was associated with a specific card.  A character might be a balrog (king of diamonds) or a slime-mutant (two of hearts) or even human scum (two of clubs).  As the mention of 'balrog' suggests, various literary monsters were provided:  From Tolkien, along with balrogs, there were hobbits (technically 'black hobbits' due to their categorization as monsters) as well as orcs (and half-orcs); Tsathoguas from C. A. Smith; shoggoths and night-gaunts from Lovecraft; Snarks (misspelled 'Shark' in the Monster Glossary) from Lewis Carroll; shadowjacks from Zelazny; and M!M! demons were inspired by L. Sprague de Camp's works.  The table provides attribute multipliers for the various monsters.  (For instance, a yeti multiplies its strength by four while a gremlin multiplies its constitution by one-half.)  These attribute multipliers allowed detailed monster creation in T&T and also provided means to create non-human (but non-monstrous) player characters types like elves and dwarves.

Experience points were awarded in M!M! for expected behavior like acquiring treasure and killing or conquering enemies, but also for obtaining attractive captives of the opposite sex (“No points for ugly people”), destructiveness (including “wanton cruelty” and “general rottenness”), and sating one's appetite.

Just as 'normal' characters went dungeon delving in T&T, characters in M!M! were expected to raid settlements.  To this end, a sample farming village was mapped and described, the inn of the village was mapped and described in greater detail.  Attributes were supplied for various residents (with names like Desmond Mudminder, Bolinger Zangala, and Gort Glibtongue).  While these residents are targets in M!M!, they could easily serve as typical non-player characters in a traditional game.  St. Andre encouraged Game Masters (thus called in Monsters! Monsters! ) to create their own settings for monsters to invade.  St. Andre mentioned he designed Khosht, a city with a population of  20,000, for use in his games.

From St. Andre's Monsters! Monsters! Introduction:

So it was only natural that the monsters should come out of their tunnels and dungeons to strike back at the smug world of Men, Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, etc., who had been so greedily despoiling their homes and treasures...A monster lives by a completely different code of ethics, affording a splendid opportunity to get rid of the impure and perverted impulses which affect most of us – impulses it's hard to express while playing a hero.