Just received this in the mail: the 1981 2nd printing of the Advanced D&D Dungeon Masters Screen. Pretty jazzed.....lets take a closer look...
Nobody in my group of gamers back in the 1980's had a DMs screen...not sure how we missed out on these beauties, but we did. After reading David M. Ewalt's "Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and the People who Play It" I had a mental picture of Gary Gygax in his basement....running a game...secluded so the players couldn't see him...and wondered why our DMs were so open to the players...but hey, we were kids, and weren't that sophisticated.
Onto the DMs Screen...
1st illustration by Erol Otus....a Knight with a spear about to meet his end at the business end of a Green Dragon....pretty cool stuff. Has the newer TSR "The Game Wizards" logo....1979, 1981 copyright. "These screens are useful for shielding maps and other game materials from the players..." excellent for a DM who wanted to maintain the "element of surprise".
The 2nd illustration on screen#1 is the familiar "Thieves & Idol" from the Players Handbook by the genius of David A. Trampier. I really would love to have that original work on a t shirt....WOC really need to work with the estates of some of those original D&D artist...an untapped goldmine awaits 'em.
And the charts from screen #1
Psionics....now if you were the type of DM & players that included them in your campaign this would be great. Us? We rarely used Psionics....tried them out, didn't make much sense to us. Why would a random Fighter type have some incredible Super Mind power?!? Didn't seem necessary to us. Just stick to the sword, Conan, and make with the slicing & Dicing.
Players were treated to the 2 cool illustrations...and charts for the levels & experience for various classes: Fighters, Thieves, Magic-Users and Clerics.
Now on to screen #2.....and what might be my single favorite work of the late great DAT!
Honestly...this is the reason I bought this old Dms screen....this is just sheer brilliance! The Red Dragon, The adventurers finding the "magical" sword, The Knight fighting the Lizardman, The Knight & damsel...undead spirits & graveyard...worth the price of admission right there friends & neighbors!
And the charts...
Attack Matrix for all the different classes...Saving throw tables, Armor class descrips, Matrix for a Cleric vs the various Undead...just the things that a DM is going to use the most! Well done TSR!
Over the Moon with having picked up this DMs screen....and didn't pay an arm & a leg for it either! Patience pays off with 'ol Ebay!
and for an added bonus with today's blog....a pic of some old 1980's miniatures I found packed away in an old chest recently....
It pays to be a hoarder sometimes! And for added fun...who can picked out the 2 books in the background??? :D
Until we meet again True Believers....EXCELSIOR!
We're going back to the very start today people...to the very 1st dungeon I ever adventured in....set the WABAC Machine for 1981...or around there...
My parents living room...after school....a couple of buds, Myself & my younger brother...the guy acting as DM brought along his dungeon map from the Heritage Miniatures "Dungeon Dwellers" box set...rolled up characters & off we went...the very 1st time I played D&D...
My DM buddy was an only child...and had almost every TSR product you could get your hands on growing up in "The Sticks" as it were....but by the late 1980's/early 1990's he was bored with D&D...he was into Gamma World...and was going to get rid of most of his old D&D stuff....which is how I came into possession of these artifacts!
"The Caverns of Doom"! Great little 1 level dungeon. You can see the outlines on the floor where the 3 Dragon miniatures were supposed to be placed...I remember the Red Dragon...the other 2 not so much! This is the place where it all began for us...we didn't have to map it...treated it like a "treasure map" our characters had in their possession...and proceeded with extreme caution! Just looking at this map takes me back to our old house on the lake...the brown shag carpet, funky 1970's coffee table where we played the game...the fireplace...good times!
A little latter on...as our characters grew more powerful & were able to have henchmen & hirelings...and eventually troops...one friend introduced what had to be (in retrospective) the original CHAINMAIL rules to our campaign...I'm guessing one of his older brothers had Chainmail! Our DM copied those rules into a cool "D&D" notebook....which he also gave to me later on!
Battle worn it might be...with the rings of a drink visible around the dragon's head...its still pretty damn brilliant! Check out my friend's reproduction of those Chainmail rules!
For a short time we were preoccupied with battling evil hordes with our own armies...it was great fun!
Here's a look at the back cover of the notebook.
$1.27 at Montgomery Ward's! This old notebooks, and the upgrade portfolios with the same images, go for big bucks on Ebay!
And for an extra "Flashback Bonus"...here's the very 1st homebrew Dungeon our DM ever drew up himself! He was/is a very artistic dude...pretty great dungeon for a 14 year old kid!
Hope you guys have held onto some of your old relics like this...brings back good memories of great times spent with old friends. 'Till we meet again...."Be seeing you."
Greetings & Salutations fellow Old School gamers! Time for another installment of 1980's after school geekdom: Good 'ol D&D!
Now, I'll admit, I never owned these two old gems "....back in the day." I picked them both up off Ebay....and glad that I did! Both would have been a big help to a "DM in training"....and both contain some pretty damn cool art as well! Let's jump into the deep end, shall we?
The Dungeons & Dragons: Monster & Treasure Assortment (Sets One-three: Levels One-Nine
Now this beauty would have been a big help in adding the monsters to those gigantic dungeons we used to draw up when we were playing in the early 80's. Room after room....it does get a bit tedious after a while trying to dream up what's waiting around the next corner!
Notice too that this is for "DUNGEONS & DRAGONS"....not AD&D...this was first published as 3 separate books....then compiled into one book in 1980....still has the old school Wizard TSR logo...
It gives the DM tables for generating monsters to inhabit a dungeon....from level 1 to level 9....if you were that ambitious to draw up 9 different levels!
It also has some killer art....mostly by that David Trampier genius! Such as the excellent cover with the giant snake guarding the treasure chest!
David C. Sutherland III gets things started off with a dragon....definitely his style(no sig included).
Next up is a manticore...one of Tramp's signature subjects!
One of his earlier works...notice the "Tramp" signature instead of the later used DAT. Another mythical monster guarding the treasure room....and no doubt spoiling for a fight!
Next up are a couple more of Tramp's works: A Harpy & a Giant Spider killing a Giant Frog!
You can see how every level had a 1-100 random monster generation...and the degree of toughness & difficulty increased exponentially with the level of the dungeon!
Next are two drawings by DCS III: One showing 2 Ogre Magi & an evil fighter, the next showing two "fighting man" engaged with an Umber Hulk!
That guy is NOT fairing well with that Umber Hulk! And his friend needs to stop gawking & lend a hand...or spear!
Then we are treated to a work of the "Clown Prince" of D&D art himself...the amazing Tom Wham! Seems to show a wizard and a fighter(maybe cleric?!?) talking to a dragon....while a thief is readying a misguided "Back-stab" attack! Somehow I don't see things going well for those three!
And then there is a piece by Bill Willingham...another personal favorite early D&D artist. I'll always be flabbergasted that he was "fired: from TSR! Brilliant artist! The Medusa face on the vase is cool...as is the spider & snake!
And as an extra bonus...the back cover as a drawing by Jeff Dee...another guy TSR should have never let go! This shows 2 adventurers battling an Owlbear...while a thief treats himself to the treasure at their expense!
Very cool little book....I can see it saving a bunch of time when I need to randomly throw some monsters in an adventure!
Now we turn our collective attention to the "Advanced D&D Dungeon Masters Adventure Log".
Now this beauty is a bit of a "grab-bag" for a DM. It has charts for encounters & combat...drawings of the different types of armor...and charts to record all the pertinent information needed to track the character players in a campaign!
Let's start with that awesome cover by the legendary Erol Otus! Looks like a dwarf fighter, a mage & a human fighter have run across a very large & surly Gnoll in a dungeon...with various baddies above and below!
And then the armor & helmet drawings! Looks like the work of DCS III to me....again no sig with the drawings! Very cool to give a DM (And players as well!) exact renderings of the various types of armor!
They even throw in armor for horses....just in case you were wondering! I know that somebody I knew had this book...I can remember seeing the drawings of the various armor & thinking it was very cool back then!
A number of weapons get the treatment as well....just in case you couldn't visualize what a guisarme really looked like...or how a lucern hammer differed from a normal hammer!Fails, darts & even a bo stick!
They even threw in a "Sample Adventure Log Page" just to give the novice DM an idea of how to record all that info!
I could have gone thru a number of this books recording our adventures...but I'd have probably xeroxed the various pages so I wouldn't have gone bankrupt from having to purchase the same book over & over again! Great stuff....TSR never failed to deliver!
The "Holmes Blue Book"....Basic Dungeons and Dragons! For many this was the introduction to RPGs....lets set the WABAC Machine to the early 1980's again & give this early gem its proper respect!
Just for the record....I didn't own this early D&D book "back in the day"...I recently purchased mine off Ebay...a 1978 2nd edition! A couple of the guys in the group I played D&D with back in Middle School owned "The Basic Book". They both had the later boxed set....that came with the early D&D modules...
Had the colorful box, a module & a set of "Dragon Dice"! I remember my friend having "The Keep on the Borderlands" with his...great intro adventure!
This is the version of D&D that was intended for younger players....as opposed to the more complicated "Advanced D&D" that was just around the corner in '77. It was a streamlined version of the original D&D that had been released a few years earlier in small book form....and this version still carried both the names "Gygax & Arneson!
I remember liking how this book made the "rules" and game play easy to understand....something that AD&D didn't always do...at least to my "Tween" mind! Just role up those characters & off to explore the dungeons....and loot & kill of course!
Less Character classes, less rules....right in our wheelhouse! Who wanted to spend countless hours agonizing over which character to play? Elves, Halflings & Dwarves were classes in the Holmes book....player friendly and lots of room for expansion by the players & DM.
Another thing I love about the Holmes version of D&D is the art work...
Great drawling of battle by the late David C. Sutherland III....Magic user & Fighters taking the fight to a band of Orcs! Classic stuff!
And of course the Holmes book introduced many of us to the artist I consider to be the absolute KING of "D&D ART"....the late GREAT DAT....aka David A. Trampier!
Just the best, in my humble opinion, of the not only the early TSR artist...but my fav of any D&D artist! Tramp's works are simply Iconic!
If you continue to follow this blog you'll find that I really favor the early artist....Dee, Willingham, Sutherland, Otis....but Tramp is the guy who's works are closest to my heart.
Other great artist who's work is in the Holmes book include Tom Wham! Always found his stuff entertaining!
DCS III's work, including the fantastic cover, always displayed a great deal of action! The busty Harpy's popped a few adolescent eyeballs!
And this small drawing in the back of the book, though a bit crude, displayed his love of "fighting scenes"....gotta love the surprise attack of the skeletons!
The Holmes book also had a trial Dungeon included in it...the 1st many of us (mine was another, which I'll cover in a future post!)ever adventured in!
Rooms with letters instead of numbers...to each his own but it got a kid pointed in the right direction as far as creating an underground adventure world!
I dug(and still do!) this "sample cross section" of a Dungeon....giving the novice player a visual idea of how the various levels of a dungeon stacked over each other...as well as a basis for creating our own such layouts!
The Holmes book even had the "tear-out" page in the back with reference tables for aspiring DM's...
Maybe not necessary for a book this size...but a great idea that would culminate in the DM Screen that would arrive in 1979.
Now for myself, and the groups of guys I played D&D with, the Holmes book wasn't "D&D lite" or "D&D for kids"...even though we were! We had the Holmes book at the same time as the Molday & Cook books....and the Advanced D&D books too....we just used the Holmes book as a speedier version....when we didn't want to hunt through the more complex tombs...and integrated them all into 1 system....as for my enduring love for the Holmes book? I'll leave you with a pic of a t shirt I picked up on line a few year back....always gets a "Great Shirt!" comment in public....until next time....light the torches & down the stairs!
