From The Scrolls of Skrel, Excerpt A

The Apes of Brool

The jungles north of the last outpost of Sparn are known generally as The Jungles of Brool. Not commonly known, however, is the origin of this name. There are several tribes of white apes that habitate within this area. These creatures are uncommonly cunning, and at least some of their number are capable of speech. All of these tribes refer to themselves as "The Apes of Brool," which may, on first blush, seem a simple reference to the name of the jungle in which they dwell. The apes, however, maintain an oral tradition that offers another explanation. Brool, they claim, was their greatest king, ruler of a vast ape empire which existed sometime in the distant past-- perhaps five or six æons ago, perhaps more. According to the white apes, this empire spanned the entire length and breadth of what we now know as The Jungles of Brool. The truth of this account remains uncertain. However, there are reports of ruins and crumbling stones within the jungle which bear carvings of apes and monkeys preparing for war, practicing agriculture, and populating temples and fortresses.

The article above was found among the Scrolls of Skrel, a lesser scribe at the Last Outpost of the Sparn Empire in the 66th æon of Eris.

North Texas RPG Con Photos

LINK: photos by Cat Napp

LINK: more photos here

LINK: a short review of the 2010 convention by Cat Napp

Me discussing the finer points of gaming philosophy with Rob Kuntz and Tim Kask.

Convention organizer Doug Rhea with an orange B3 and a 1st ed. Palace of the Vampire Queen from his extensive collection.

Jason "Philotomy" Cone's table delving into his campaign megadungeon, Cromlech Tor.

Tim Kask and Rob Kuntz: Thinking really hard about the early days of the game.

Tim reminisces Bunnies and Burrows as Dennis "The Original Druid" Sustare listens.

Dennis running his new Swords & Wizardry scenario, Ursined, Sealed, and Delivered, with help from co-DM "Taco John" Hershberger.

Awesome Erol Otus painting.

At the "Megadungeon" panel, Matt Finch and Allan "Grodog" Grohe check out the Megadungeon Quilt!?!

"Grodog," "Philotomy," and Paul Jaquays disect the megadungeon.

Secret Invisible Gygax Dungeon

I know this map has made the rounds, but I was futzing around with it in Photoshop, hoping to get more detail, and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a strange sunflower-shape dead center of the dungeon. 

What is it? 

A watermark logo on the graph paper? Probably...

Or could it possibly be the outline of the next level of Castle Greyhawk faintly showing

 through the page?!?

Has anyone else discovered this?

Click the pic for more detail...

The original image can be found here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mbogen/GenCon07#5474906967304182674

UPDATE: Grodog at Dragonsfoot sent me a better copy of the image file, and I was able to pull out a bit more detail. Here it is:

Again, click for more detail.

B/X DM Screen

There's a thread over on Dragonsfoot about custom B/X screens, so I thought I'd post some photos of mine. Click on the images for a closer view. (And see my 'Weekend B3 Game' blog entry for a picture of this screen in action.)

In Memoriam

The greatest fantasy artist ever has passed on to Valhalla.

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2010/05/legendary-artist-frank-frazetta-passes-away/

The Real Cube of "Quasar"

Le Cube de Quasar

Check it out.  Here:

http://www.flickr.com/people/quasar-unipower/

And Here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/quasar-unipower/

Weekend B3 Game

Three weeks ago, my wife Heather and I had a couple friends over. They'd pretty much never done any tabletop roleplaying, but they'd heard that I was working on some stuff for Brave Halfling, so they asked if we could play some D&D. I said, sure, and whipped out the Moldvay Basic Rules and Module B3. After about a half-hour of character creation, they were happily hacking away at skeletons and giant rats in the gatehouse below the Silver Palace. They've been back every weekend since to continue the game. After three sessions, they've gotten through almost 3/4 of the lower level of the palace.

Here's a couple pictures Heather took. In the first one, notice my awesome homemade B/X screen. The second picture shows Lawson, a first time player concentrating on getting every detail onto his map. (He's very proud of the map!)

Moon Pyramids!

If there's anything that comes close to the coolness of a giant granite cube, it's got to be these mysterious pyramids on the moon. Be sure to watch the video clip on the Website: 

http://sites.google.com/site/lunarexpose/

Law v. Chaos, Part I

One thing I find interesting about the alignment systems of early D&D is the choice to use a law/chaos cosmology as opposed to one based on the more familiar construct of good/evil. This choice may have been a nod to Michael Moorcock's various novels built around the eternal cosmic struggle of law against chaos, but it also corresponds nicely with the ancient mythologies of many (or even most) cultures where the law/chaos cosmology appears to predate the traditional concept of good/evil. Many mythological heroes behave in ways that could be perceived as evil by modern standards. Yet these ancient characters maintain their heroic status, not by championing good over evil, but by defending order from disorder. In it's most primitive form this concept might even be reduced to a basic struggle of light versus darkness (i.e. the light and safety of the tribal fire versus the darkness and peril of the unknown that lie beyond).

The significance of this, it seems, is that if correctly understood and executed, this sort of treatment of the early D&D alignments might be useful to a fantasy campaign striving for a more primitive, heroic feel. I've title this post "Part I" to allow me to come back to this idea as I continue to wrap my head around it.

The Contemptible Cube of Quazar

So this is my new blog. Never run one before, so it may be a few days/weeks before I figure out how everything works. I'm titling this blog after my recent submission (and winning entry) to the 2010 One-Page-Dungeon contest: The Contemptible Cube of Quazar. (Such a cheesy-

yet-cool name.)

Not only did "The Cube" place in the contest, but Fight On! magazine has requested a cleaned-up version of the scenario for publication in their 9th issue. Can't wait for that!

Here's the backstory/teaser to the adventure:

Quazar, a powerful evil magic-user from planet Eris has accidentally transported himself and his cube-like stronghold to Earth. He is trapped in his Inner Sanctum until he can be freed by The Four Sacred Keys. In the meantime, the uncontrolled denizens of his fortress venture forth at night to feed and plunder the local villages.