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Stained glass: history and technique
The Virgin and Saint John, from a Crucifixion, German, c. 1420, Dark brown vitreous paint, colored pot metal and clear glass, silver stain, H: 58.5 x W: 50 x D: 1 cm (23 1/16 x 19 11/16 x 3/8 in.) each (J. Paul Getty Museum, 2003.35)
The Virgin and Saint John, from a Crucifixion, German, c. 1420, Dark brown vitreous paint, colored pot metal and clear glass, silver stain, H: 58.5 x W: 50 x D: 1 cm (23 1/16 x 19 11/16 x 3/8 in.) each (J. Paul Getty Museum, 2003.35)
During the Gothic period and the Renaissance (1100s–1500s) stained glass was one of the foremost techniques of painting practiced in Europe. It may seem surprising to call stained glass a form of painting, but in fact it is. Look closely at the image here and note that the surfaces of each piece of glass are painted in a wide range of dark tones. One of the most widespread forms of painting, stained glass inspired the lives of the faithful through religious narratives in churches and cloisters, celebrated family and political ties in city halls, and even decorated the windows of private houses.
Why is it called stained glass?
The term stained glass derives from the silver stain that was often applied to the side of the window that would face the outside of the building. When the glass was fired, the silver stain turned a yellow color that could range from lemon to gold. Stained glass was usually used to make windows, so that the light would shine through the painting. It is a form of painting that began over 1,000 years ago and is still essentially made the same way today.
Seraph, unknown French glass painter, working at Reims Cathedral, c. 1275–99, pot-metal and clear glass and black vitreous paint (J. Paul Getty Museum, 2003.28)
Seraph, unknown French glass painter, working at Reims Cathedral, c. 1275–99, pot-metal and clear glass and black vitreous paint (J. Paul Getty Museum, 2003.28)
Gothic stained glass
Imagine standing in a medieval church. As your eyes adjust to the darkness, you notice colored light streaming down from above.
Some of the most powerful art produced in the High Middle Ages were stained-glass cycles, or visual stories, in French cathedrals. Among the most famous of these is in Reims Cathedral, from which this arresting lunette (a half moon–shape) originally came. The seraph, one of the six-winged angels that were thought to stand in the presence of God, is frighteningly formal, with thick strokes of black vitreous paint used to render its commanding eyes and facial features. Vitreous paint is paint that contains tiny glass particles mixed in a liquid.
Master of Klosterneuberg, Austrian, active about 1335, pot-metal and clear glass, black vitreous paint, and silver stain 2003.32
This panel (left), comes from the important medieval Abbey of Klosterneuberg outside Vienna and shows the great achievements of medieval stained glass. The painting demonstrates how pure, supple lines communicate tenderness and delicacy, even when viewed from a distance, as was often the case with medieval church glass. Simple fields of color (including the silver stain used in the yellow halos) complete the radiant effect.
This window was originally meant to go up high, in the windows of a cloister, and even though the piece itself is rather small, the tremendous clarity of the line-work that makes it quite legible from a distance. The beautiful curls of the hair, the facial features, are all painted in a black line of vitreous paint by an individual who expresses himself just as surely in this art form as a painter of oil or tempera would express him or her self in a panel painting or a fresco painting. The paint, which is applied to the glass surface, adds detail and a sense of three-dimensionality to the image. Another unique aspect of stained glass is that it's enhanced by daylight, which changes with the weather, the season, and the time of day. When a glass panel is shot through with a strong ray of light, you can see the colors floating off the top of the panel, and this is what makes it such a moving, and almost mystical, art form.
The emotion-filled panel below eloquently demonstrates the essential means of expression of medieval glass painters.
The delicate modeling of the face and hand was done by applying vitreous paint to clear glass and then stabbing it with a broad brush to create points of light. It was then contoured with a pointed brush, creating expressive, almost calligraphic linework, as seen in the tousled hair and distraught facial features of Saint John. Originally, this would have been part of a larger Crucifixion scene.
Saint John, from a Crucifixion, possibly South German, about 1420
We take windows for granted. But there was a time when glass panes were too expensive for most people, only in the late 1400s, did glass panels become wider-spread, so that middle class and wealthy people could have them in their homes—and they started setting into their clear glass windows, smaller panels that would be amusing or instructive or celebrate their family histories.
Heraldic Panel with the Arms of the Eberler Family, Swiss, possibly from Basel, c. 1490, pot-metal and clear glass, black and brown vitreous paint, and silver stain. 17-5/16 x 12-3/16 x 3/8 inches (The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2003.47)
Renaissance stained glass
In this panel (left), the Eberler family name is symbolized by a red boar, which appears on the coat of arms. And there is a very consciously sought element of humor here, where this big boar ogles, with open mouth and sly eye, this gorgeous young girl, who turns demurely away from him. But this is not altogether harmless, because we can see that she's armed with a dagger. At the top, beautiful young maidens and dashing young men are falcon hunting in the forest, a pastime that was thought to lead to amorous dalliances..
During the Renaissance, light-filled rooms in homes were popular, and that is where secular panels like this were often installed. You were meant to look through them, from your house or castle, out onto the outer world.
By the late 1400s glass became more affordable, and houses were increasingly fitted with clear glass windows, sometimes inset with small stained-glass panels. This panel shows a family coat of arms and was probably made for a private home. Typical of such panels, it is colorful, light, and humorous.
Unknown French glass painter, from Lorraine or Burgundy, c. 1500–1510, pot-metal, clear, and flashed glass, black vitreous paint, and silver stain 2003.53.1 and 2003.53.2
Large-scale stained glass
The production of large-scale stained-glass windows for churches flourished in Europe during the Renaissance. These two monumental examples (left) probably once decorated a chapel. On the left is a Crucifixion scene with the Virgin and St. John the Evangelist, and on the right is a young kneeling donor. As he adores The Crucifixion, the donor is protected by Saint Christopher, the giant who ferried the Christ child over a river. The brilliant color and complex workmanship of these panels indicate that they were a lavish expression of piety on the part of the young, unidentified donor.
These panels contain just about all you need to know to understand the fundamentals of stained glass. They are made partly of colored glass, which you see from the rich robes of St. John the Evangelist and the Virgin. This red glass and blue glass would be a consistent color throughout. But then you also have various ways in which the glass painter manipulated the layers of glass. You see the constant use of silver stain, or yellow stain.
The yellow stain is applied to the back of the panel. You can see that quite easily in the hair of the Christ child. Another wonderful aspect of these particular panels is the technique of flashed glass where you see with the halo of the Christ child. And this is made out of a piece of clear glass that's been dipped in red and then painted with the silver stain on the back, and then the red glass has been ground away to create the rays of his halo.
Saint Christopher and a Donor (detail with Christ Child), unknown French glass painter, from Lorraine or Burgundy, c. 1500–1510, pot-metal, clear, and flashed glass, black vitreous paint, and silver stain (J. Paul Getty Museum, 2003.53.2)
A single piece of glass
During the late 1400s glass windows in domestic interiors became ubiquitous, and small painted roundels like this one—a single piece of clear glass with vitreous paint and golden silver stain—became so popular that their production reached nearly industrial proportions by the 1520s. Purchased in large cycles or as single images, they were intended to amuse and instruct, with subjects like zodiac signs, religious imagery, portraits, and heraldry.
It's quite small, but this silver-stained roundel of the Archangel Michael conquering Satan (below) conveys an amazing sense of depth. It's a single piece of glass with a picture painted on its surface and golden colors stained on the back. In a way, the light passing through it symbolizes St. Michael's identity as the angel of light and goodness.
The Archangel Michael Vanquishing the Devil, colorless glass, oxide paint, and silver stain, Netherlands, c. 1530 (J. Paul Getty Museum, 2003.73)
We see the very light and delicate yellow color of St. Michael's hair, and the more orange-yellow burnt-looking colors of the silver stain that indicate his armor and the feathers of his wings, and a really deep orange—that when illuminated from behind gives you a great realistic sensation of those flames coming up and licking at Satan's belly.
In this intricate example, the light brown paint has been stippled and scratched away with brushes and pointed sticks to achieve the delicate modeling in Saint Michael's drapery and the body of Satan. Silver stain was employed to maximum effect, ranging from the egg-yolk yellow flames engulfing Satan to the light lemon of the distant landscape.


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I'm new to this and will be updating this soon, but in the meantime, please get in touch with me to find out more!
I don't know what I'm looking for but I will know when I've found it
Flirthut is a completely free dating site where people like you meet other people looking for a relationship, love or just friends. You can message Nathan28 by signing in or registering.Find out more about us » Join us for free and get searching for your match

subset: commoncrawl


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Mitt Romney: King of comedy
It is time to cut Mitt Romney some slack. It is wrong to criticize him until you've walked a mile in his living room.
That last line was a joke that someone posted on Twitter. Jokes have power. When a politician makes a joke, he can make a point and also leave people with the impression that he is a regular guy and not some cardboard cutout.
Story Continued Below
Romney needs some jokes. And he needs them for his first presidential debate on Wednesday.
Ronald Reagan won a debate with a joke. He had a disastrous first debate with Walter Mondale on Oct. 7, 1984. Reagan's answers were muddled, and he seemed confused — at one point, he said he was "here in Washington" when he was, in fact, in Louisville, Ky. He appeared to show the exhausting effect that almost four years in the White House had on a 73-year-old man.
At the second and final debate, in Kansas City, Mo., on Oct. 21, Hank Trewhitt of The Baltimore Sun said to Reagan: "You already are the oldest president in history, and some of your staff say you were tired after your most recent encounter with Mr. Mondale. I recall, yes, that President Kennedy, who had to go for days on end with very little sleep during the Cuban missile crisis. Is there any doubt in your mind that you would be able to function in such circumstances?"
Reagan answered with the joke heard round the world: "Not at all, Mr. Trewhitt, and I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience."
Trewhitt replied: "Mr. President, I'd like to head for the fence and try to catch that one before it goes over."
All Romney needs is his own home run joke — one that clears the fences, warms the hearts of voters and narrows the polls.
Lines can be written for him. Nobody expects a presidential candidate to come up with his own bons mots.
Tuesday, Romney pulled off an actual joke.
At Bill Clinton's Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York, Clinton introduced Romney to the audience, and Romney then thanked him in his opening remarks.
"If there's one thing we've learned this election season, by the way, it is that a few words from Bill Clinton can do a man a lot of good," Romney said, referring to Clinton's speech for Barack Obama at the Democratic convention. "All I gotta do now is wait a couple of days for that bounce!"
It was funny, and the audience laughed. This should give Romney the courage to try humor again.


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Get into Disability Swimming
An introduction to Para-Swimming
Swimming has been an event at the Paralympic Games since the event was first held in Rome in 1960.
The GBR Para-Swimming team has had great medal success at the Paralympic Games over that time and in other major international events.
Anyone can take part in swimming
The great thing about swimming is that it is an inclusive sport and it is not just at Paralympic level that people with a disability can get involved in swimming.
There are plenty of opportunities at local and regional level for people with a disability to get involved.
Even though disabilities vary the classification system ensures the playing field remains level.
To find out more on where to start your swimming pathway click here and view the disability grassroot section.
Already a competent swimmer? If you are able to swim 15m or more then click here and fill out our Swimmer ID Tracker form to become more involved with Para-Swimming.


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The fragrance I'm carrying around in my handbag at the moment is Escada's limited summer edition Taj Sunset with a scent of tropical Mango. Escada's summer scents are the only "sweet" bottles that have ever found their way into my bathroom but they are like this one, perfect for summer days, light and fruity.
May 28, 2011
Comments (1)
May 28, 2011
Oh love this perfume!


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Some friends and I were hanging out in the school library, and noticed a book on a nearby shelf called "A Night to Remember." In typical pre-adolescent fashion we joked about it being a dirty book, but I was curious and picked it out.
Roughly 35 years later, it still holds me. I re-read it again last night. Hundreds of books have been written about the Titanic, but this one still trumps them all. Likely because it tells human stories, not just a summary, and was based on many interviews.
I'd never heard of the Titanic before that book, and the story certainly has changed the direction of my interests.
Walter Lord, in my opinion, was likely the best historical writer of all time. I never met him, but wish I had. If you've never read any of his books, you should. "Day or Infamy" and "Incredible Victory" are both excellent, too (there are many others). He had an amazing ability to tell stories through the eyes of people who were actually there, not just quoting the facts, and his many interviews with eyewitnesses give you a whole new perspective on historical events.
If you like "A Night to Remember" I also recommend "The Night Lives On," where he re-examines many of the legends and stories about the Titanic for clearer answers of what happened during the tragedy.


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Thursday marked a new beginning for about 30 military officers at Fort Leavenworth, according to an Army official.
Thursday marked a new beginning for about 30 military officers at Fort Leavenworth, according to an Army official.
The officers, who were graduating from the School of Advanced Military Studies, will be starting a new phase of their careers, Lt. Gen. David R. Hogg said.
Hogg, who was the guest speaker during Thursday's graduation ceremony, is the U.S. military representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Military Committee. He also is a SAMS graduate.
"I am proud to be a SAMS graduate," he said. "It is a great accomplishment and you all should be proud of that accomplishment as well."
About 30 military officers graduated Thursday from the SAMS Advanced Military Studies Program, which is a one-year, graduate level course. Each of Thursday's graduates received a Master of Military Art and Science degree.
Hogg said SAMS has a reputation for producing skilled, adaptable planners.
Most of Thursday's graduates are Army officers, but the class included two officers from the U.S. Air Force. And two of the graduates serve in the militaries of foreign countries — Pakistan and the United Kingdom. Two of Thursday's graduates are civilian employees of the Department of State.
And while most of the military officers who graduated Thursday hold the rank of major or lieutenant colonel, there was one chief warrant officer in the group.
This was the second class to graduate from SAMS this year.
Col. Thomas C. Graves, director of SAMS, said the graduates had completed a rigorous course of instruction.
"They have done well and deserve today's recognition," he said.
One of Thursday's graduates, Maj. Michael J. Gunther, said SAMS gives its students a broad education. He said it gives a graduate "a lot of different tools."
Gunther was recognized during the ceremony for writing the best monograph.


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Welcome to AMUSE!
An Adobe Muse template, especially designed for musicians. This template is perfect for bands, DJs, singers and all kinds of artists. It will help you promote your music and showcase your tour dates, events etc.. Amuse is designed to help you engage your fans from the fist second they visit your website due to the awesome motion and parallax scrolling effects. It is equipped with a powerful subscription form, social sharing buttons and many other neat features!
- Icons: Font Awesome
- Fonts: Typekit
- Images used as background: Unsplash
- Background Patterns: SubtlePatterns


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It's hard to take The Mentalist seriously now I follow crimershow #tv
It's hard to take The Mentalist seriously now I follow crimershow #tv
Just reported+hid all Wix ads on Facebook — dialog asked me why. Flash websites are "Against My Views" #web
12921 #steps today
#listening to Rise Of The Indie Web session /by Tantek Çelik #bookmark #audio #podcast
That Icelandic register things is a great example of technology making bureaucracy redundant. Ironically, having said that, there are some prime examples of technology mindlessly being applied and increasing bureaucracy and waste here…
I'm looking at you, fancy touch screen machines who's only function is to spit out a bit of paper (average life span maybe 2 mins?) which tells me when a desk is free to serve me :/
Loving #zsh so far. Advanced globbing, git status in the prompt and super-intelligent command autocomplete… why did I ever use bash?
11101 #steps yesterday (no, not a binary number)
Jeremy Keith I hereby dub you "Overlord of Profound Single Sentence Paragraphs at the end of Book Forewords"
Moved into my temporary apartment. Connected to wifi, made a hot water and some smoky lamb sandwiches, ritual complete. #iceland
Awesome! window.postMessage supports opening a new window, then sending messages to it! Seeing some interesting #webactions use cases…
Spending my last morning at kexhostel taking photos of all the great #microcopy they have here
Long shower queue at #kexhostel today, so I spent the time coming up with a better way of counting on fingers. Binary is not very ergonomic, my way is more limited but still gets you up to 99 using only fingers as state, and potentially 399 using arms as state too.
19874 #steps today
Oh Quick Look, why are you incapable of handling unicode?
sophiedennis s/guitar/hurdy gurdy ;)
sophiedennis wow, that thing's seen some serious repair work, judging by all those cleats! Related but not nearly as shiny:
7388 #steps today
Robin Andrews sort of — I get a notification, and I see it. The tweet is still public (anyone can see if they go to twitter.com/robinmujician), but it only appears in people's feeds if they follow both of us.


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A sarcoma containing large spindle cells of smooth muscle. Although it rarely occurs in soft tissue, it is common in the viscera. It is the most common soft tissue sarcoma of the gastrointestinal tract and uterus. The median age of patients is 60 years. (From Dorland, 27th ed; Holland et al., Cancer Medicine, 3d ed, p1865)
Leiomyosarcoma, Leiomyosarcoma, NOS, Leiomyosarcomas


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March 12 — Working girl: Did your mother or grandmother work outside the home? What did she do? Describe her occupation.
Mom stayed home.
Her mom stayed home.
For a time period, she did work at cleaning houses. She named me after one of the women whose home she cleaned - Peggy Sternbaum.
She also worked for awhile in the cafeteria of my grade school. I was always secretly excited when I would see her working, for it was a part-time job. She worked when she was called in. It always bothered her to see the amount of food wasted.
Image from Google, not my mother
Mom was always at home when I was at home. She was there to get me off to school in the mornings, and was there when I returned afterward. She kept the home running, just like her own mother had done.


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Daniela de Jesus Cosio was born on January 11, 1986, in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico.
Not much is know about this Mexican beauty's upbringing other than the fact that she undoubtedly came from great genes. She attended UABCS (university) in her hometown of La Paz and studied tourism. While completing her studies, she participated in the Nuestra Belleza Baja California beauty pageant and won the state crown.
As she honed her talent for modeling, she competed in the Nuestra Belleza Modelo contest, the most important beauty pageant in Mexico, which seeks to find the woman with the most modeling potential. The award is a contract with the modeling agency Esenezza Modelos, however, unfortunately for Daniela de Jesus Cosio, she was the runner-up. It didn't take long, though, for other agencies to take notice of her striking, flawless beauty, and she was quickly signed with Mega Models in Miami, Florida.
In 2006, Daniela de Jesus Cosio had a spread in Balance magazine in Mexico. After doing some catalog work through 2007, including appearances on the covers of Simply The Best and Palm Beach Illustrated, she signed with Major Models in New York and Milan. Then, in October of that year, she was featured in Italian Vogue.
In 2008, the aspiring model booked even more gigs, and Daniela de Jesus Cosio appeared on the cover of Italian Maxim in April 2008.
view Daniela's profile
more images | more videos


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Our ruggedised fibre patch cables provide a more robust alternative to standard duplex patch cables.
The cable consists of two simplex units surrounded by an aramid yarn strength member and surrounded with an LSZH jacket, held together with an overall LSZH jacket. These cables provides great protection against kinking and crushing, two common problems when installing fibre. In spite fo the extra strength and durability, the cable is still flexible and compact.
Ideal for use in office LAN connections and internal point-to-point links where frequent handling is likely or for use in areas more prone to exposure to potentially harmful elements such as in industrial applications.
Outer Diameter — 3.8 x 6.6 mm
Min. Bend Radius (installation) — 20 Times Diameter
Min. Bend Radius (installed) — 10 times Diameter
Fire performance — LSZH
Operating Temperature — -20 to +60°C
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Max Crush Resistance — 200N/100mm
Bulk discounts are available for this product!
In the table below you will find detailed information regarding the discount you will receive when ordering larger quantities of this product. Place the items in your shopping basket to calculate the discount.
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Cheating = Ratings
The MiniVan loves scandal. The MiniVan supports scandal. Would the MiniVan have tuned in in record numbers to watch LeAnn Rimes's Movie of the Week with Eddie Cibrian if Us Weekly hadn't broken the story about their affair just days before the telecast?
Coincidence or conspiracy?
Northern Lights is now officially Lifetime's most watched this year. LeAnn and Eddie apparently share a few hot scenes and some horrid ass dialogue:
"Now that we've run out of things to say, do you want to have sex? You know, hot, wet, forget-all-of-our-problems sex. It's basic, it's primal, and it's low in fat."
Ok now that sh-t is worse than Twilight.
As for reports late last week about LeAnn's husband's relatives calling into a radio station and confirming that he's a gay…
Her reps have since denied the existence of said relatives and have reasserted that Dean Sheremet is in fact not gay. To prove it, the two of the kissed in front of the paps this weekend – click here to see - like a photo definitively proves he's not a 'mo.
'Mo or not, her career is suddenly on the upswing. All because you think she's cheated on her maybe gaybe husband with a married man.
But no one is watching Friday Night Lights.
File photo from Wenn.com


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Do you want to advance in your profession and make a difference in the lives of others? Earning a degree in Physician Assistant Studies from Marywood University prepares you for a medical career that's in demand and growing to meet expanding health care needs.
Physician Assistant Program
Call 570-348-6298 to Register
Welcome to the PA Program!
Welcome to the Physician Assistant (PA) program at Marywood University! The PA program at Marywood is committed to excellence in the training of students to provide both primary care and specialized health care in a variety of health care settings. Unique to the program is our non-competitive team approach and our specialized clinical tracks. Please take some time to explore our site and to learn more about pursuing a Physician Assistant degree at Marywood University
The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) has granted Accreditation-Continued status to the Marywood University Physician Assistant Program sponsored by Marywood University. Accreditation-Continued is an accreditation status granted when a currently accredited program is in compliance with the ARC-PA Standards.
Accreditation remains in effect until the program closes or withdraws from the accreditation process or until accreditation is withdrawn for failure to comply with the Standards. The approximate date for the next validation review of the program by the ARC-PA will be March 2026. The review date is contingent upon continued compliance with the Accreditation Standards and ARC-PA policy.


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Summer is the time when our favorite singers seem to have the creative juices flowing and they release tons of hot new tracks! Nothing says summer like cruising down PCH with the windows down jamming to a new Beyoncé song or dancing the day away at a Vegas pool party in your designer swimwear to Calvin Harris' latest release! Whether these songs are by veterans of the music industry or the next up and coming artist, we can't wait to see what songs hit the summer scene. We turn to three of the industry's hottest stars, Ariana Grande, Beyoncé, and Iggy Azaela to see how they rock their swimwear looks while hitting the summer scene!
Ariana Grande is a Nickelodeon sweetheart turned music star that has hit the big time with her amazing voice and catchy tunes! Since Ariana is such a sweetie, we thought she would look amazing in the Jessie's Girl bikini. This luxury swimwear piece is a flirty style that would stand out anywhere! The floral print with sexy lacing at the bust is perfect for your summer beach or pool party. With this cute look, you will be ready to hit the dance floor at the pool in Vegas, or rock out with your gal pals on the way to the beach!
Nearly every girl, no matter what her age, loves the one and only Beyoncé! Commonly referred to as "Queen Bey," Beyoncé has been producing seductive dance songs for years that never get old. We think that the Sugar Rush bikini in turquoise would look amazing on her! The color would compliment her flawless skin and the gold details are the perfect stand-out element for the original diva! This sexy suit will help you to channel your inner Sasha Fierce and dance like no one is watching! Now grab your girls and hit the dance floor!
Summer's newest star, Iggy Azaela is taking the music industry by storm and she's showing no signs of slowing down! Her entire album is the perfect soundtrack for any summer occasion! She would look amazing in the Rock the Boat monokini. Iggy is not afraid to strut her stuff and has the confidence to rock any look! The sexy monokini and unique pattern are perfect for a girl who isn't afraid to stand out and have fun! This perfect monokini will have you feelin' "Fancy" all summer long!


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An electrical estimator has to deal with a lot of people, including general contractors, engineers and architects. Many estimators interact with vendors. How they treat those vendors can make a world of difference.
An ethics journey
Try a Google search for the word "ethics." You will get about 187 million results. Now change the search to "ethics and construction." There will still be more than 109 million results. There is a mountain of information and opinions and, of course, much disagreement.
One of the biggest eye-openers was how significantly ethics vary by geographical regions. Practices that are acceptable in Chicago may not be acceptable in Los Angeles. Ethics vary even more once you leave the United States. Some parts of the world actually consider bribery to be a regular part of business, whereas it usually indicates a loss of integrity here in the United States.
My first job in this industry was at a small wholesale house. After working there for seven years, I was offered a job in purchasing for a very large electrical contractor. My current employer could not match the wage offer and encouraged me to take the job. On my last day at the wholesale house, the boss took me aside and offered some advice. He said, "When you get to your new job, do not take anything." I did not know what he meant, but he would not say more. It only took a little while for me to figure it out. So began my journey into the ethics of this business.
My first vendor-relations decisions
Soon after starting the new job, I had to answer the question, "Can I be bought?" If the answer was yes, how much would I go for? I had to make some quick decisions, as I was in charge of purchases that ran as high as $1 million per month. Keeping my previous employer's advice in mind, I decided that the only thing I would take from vendors was lunch, with the qualification that they could not "buy me" with food. I informed them, however, that they could influence my purchasing decisions with great service and rock-bottom prices.
This approach worked very well, partially because I controlled so much money. If I held up an order to a wholesale house on Monday, someone called Tuesday morning, asking what the problem was.
I actually took this approach to the dismay of my boss, who preferred yelling at the vendors. I got the same lecture at least twice per month. Imagine a man with a heavy British accent yelling, "Steve, you're not bloody hard enough on the wholesalers." It was everything I could do not to grin. Let me qualify that. To this day, I am still fond of the man and have great respect for him. He taught me a lot and brought me from small contracting to large contracting without many scars. I simply disagreed with him.
As I matured and learned a little more about psychology, I came to understand that his approach may be necessary for some people, whereas my methods worked better with others.
Shopping your vendors
The next issue in dealing with vendors is shopping, which is the practice of revealing one vendor's price to a competitor in an attempt to get a lower price (the same thing some general contractors do to you). This practice occasionally causes negative side effects, including not getting quotes until minutes before bid time, vendors holding back their best price, and vendors giving their best price to someone else. If you shop your vendors, they most certainly will use strategies to protect themselves. These problems with vendor relations gave me a novel idea.
I had just started a new job in an estimating and project management position that gave me authority over project purchases. I required my vendor's sales staff to make their first price their best price and deliver it at least 30 minutes prior to the bid. I also told them the purchase orders would be written to the low bidder for the quoted price. It took a while for them to catch on, but the results were amazing. Once the vendors learned I could be trusted, I started getting low numbers hours before the bid. If the number got shopped (by someone else, of course), they would call me with the new low number. Better prices contributed to more winning bids with better markups. Unexpectedly, the vendors gave us better service after the sale, which, in turn, made me look good with my customers.
CARR has been in the electrical construction business 41 years. He started Carr Consulting Services—which provides electrical estimating and educational services—in 1994. Contact him at 805.523.1575 or email@example.com.


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The Lipscomb Lady Bisons have been picked be finish the 2010 softball season as both the regular season and tournament champions in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Senior first baseman Kellie Sirus has projected as the A-Sun Player of the Year. She joins infielder Abby Keese on the A-Sun Preseason All-Conference Team.
The Lady Bisons received five first place votes and 111 total votes. Campbell was close behind with 106 votes, six for first place.
Lady Bisons coach Kristin Ryman is pleased that her team has been honored, but she knows that preseason predictions often do not hold up at the end of the season.
"This is recognition and a prediction," Ryman said. "That's all it is.
"It shows the respect that coaches have for both us and Campbell. Campbell had more first place votes than we did so that could have gone either way."
The Lady Bisons are returning 13 letter winners and all of their starters from last season. They finished 39-14 overall in 2009. They were 15-5 in the A-Sun, finishing in third place.
"This is a message to our team that we are not going to surprise anyone," Ryman said. "We are going to have a target on our backs. We are going to get the best that other teams have to offer. Even non-conference teams when they do their research on us are going see that we have been picked in preseason to win the A-Sun."
The Lady Bisons do bring back a great deal of experience, but Ryman knows that every team in the conference is competitive and that one or two injuries can get even the best team off of the winning track.
"Every team in our conference is good enough to finish in the top six and qualify for the tournament," Ryman said. "Any team in the conference can beat any other team."
The winner of the conference tournament is equally difficult to pick in preseason.
"Two years ago we were the No.1 seed in the tournament," Ryman said. "But when the tournament begins you can throw the seeding out."
Sirus was an A-Sun First Team All-Conference selection last season. Keese was named to the All-Conference Second Team.
"I don't think this puts any pressure on either one of them," Ryman said. "They both know they are surrounded by a team full of great players."
Last season Keese was joined by pitcher Whitney Kiihnl, catcher Mollie Mitchell, center fielder Lauren Dortwegt and designated player Christen Campbell on the All-Conference Second Team.
Kiihnl was named "Freshman of the Year" and also was on All-Freshman team with Mitchell, second baseman Courtney Billington and outfielder Caroline Mason.
"Dortwegt has put up outstanding numbers, but she is competition with some other great outfielders in the league," Ryman said. "Campbell is a gamer. Billington, Mason, Kiihnl and Mitchell all are still young.
"This makes a statement about the depth of program. We can't depend on just one or two players. That doesn't work in softball. But no matter what the predictions are we still have to go out there and get it done."
Written by Mark McGee, Senior Publisher/Director of Media Relations


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Posted on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. - Four Westminster College chemistry faculty participated in the Biennial Conference on Chemical Education (BCCE) July 29-Aug. 2 at Pennsylvania State University.
Dr. Helen Boylan, associate professor, and Dr. Larry Miller, assistant professor, presented "Engaging Students in Course Content and Chemical Literature with Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique (IF-AT) Scratch Offs." IF-AT is a multiple choice scratch-off sheet that is based on psychological principles related to learning and memory, and facilitates learning during an assessment and improves retention. The presentation reviewed results of a study that tested students' literacy skills before and after a semester of using IF-AT in Instrumental Analysis.
Boylan, a Westminster graduate who joined the faculty in 2001, earned a Ph.D. from Duquesne University.
Miller, who has been with Westminster since 2008, earned undergraduate degrees from Case Western Reserve University, and a Ph.D. from Purdue University.
Miller also presented "Hired as a Generalist: Keeping Active with Chemistry Education Research (CER) Without a Specific Mandate." Unlike most traditional positions in a chemistry department, Miller's position is not attached to any specific discipline. Instead his position requires him to teach more than one discipline, mentor students in undergraduate research, and to engage in scholarship. Miller's presentation reviewed his experiences using CER as scholarship in his unique role as a chemistry generalist.
Dr. Sarah Kennedy, assistant professor, presented "Green Seeds Planted in Organic Chemistry Bloom into a Full Green Chemistry Course." Upon returning from a green chemistry workshop, Kennedy implemented several green chemistry laboratories and weekly green activities into her own courses. Kennedy's presentation reviewed the steps from introducing the green activities into courses to creating a full-blown course in which students learned about green technologies, networked with green chemists, and completed research projects focused on promoting green activities.
Kennedy, a Westminster graduate who joined the faculty in 2009, earned a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Dr. Peter Smith, associate professor, also attended the conference and served on the 2014 General Chemistry - Second Semester Exam Committee. He helped to compile two versions of the exam to be piloted next spring.
Smith, who has been with Westminster since 2002, earned an undergraduate degree and Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee.
Contact Boylan at (724) 946-6293 or email for more information on the conference.


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In this promissory note, Hezekiah Newcomb agrees to pay his debt to the estate of Remembrance Sheldon in grain, neet cattle or silver money. In the years following the American Revolution, hard currency was scarce and many debts were paid with goods instead. Grain and neet cattle were the most common forms of payment.
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Just spreading the word about an ongoing project, and reposting an entry from a very cool blog. You can find all the details on Sarah's site, even contribute to the cause. Who knows, maybe I will have some video to upload to the project as well!:
Give us your International Yarn Bombing Day footage!
Hi! Sarah here, director of the feature length Yarn Graffiti Documentary.As many of you know, This Saturday, June 11, is International Yarn Bombing Day (Woo Hoo!). All around the world, hundreds of crews will simultaneously carry out knitted and crocheted projects. I'm so excited, as a knitter and as a filmmaker.My crew will be in San Antonio, TX filming a group as they knit a giant Texas flag over the River Walk. While we're really excited about this my producer, John Moore, and I have been trying to figure out how we can best utilize our resources to capture this awesome event.WE WANT YOUR IYBD FOOTAGE!My crew and I can only be in one place at a time, but we want to gather as much footage as possible for an elaborate montage of bombers around the world. If you plan on taking part of any project and plan to have video, pictures, or any other documentation, please send it to us. Use your IPhone, old Handicam, Flipcam, 16mm, MiniDV, or whatever. We know that most of you are not professional filmmakers or camera-people but that's okay. We just want to make sure we get this world wide event captured! This is an imperative part of the film because it will show the international community of yarn bombers.


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Results 1 to 10 of 37
Tuesday, 29th March, 2011, 05:32 PM #1
The Grand Druid (Lvl 20)
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A semi-brief history of D&D and some other RPGs: 1980-1989
Continued from: http://www.enworld.org/forum/general...67-1979-a.html
The Fantasy Trip by Jackson (of Texas) published by MetaGaming. Based on minigames Melee and Wizard, TFT included flexible, non-random, character creation for its two classes, three stats (Strength, Dexterity, and IQ), and combat played out on a hex-grid. MetaGaming founder Howard Thompson and Steve Jackson quickly part ways, with Thompson deriding TFTs complexity. Jackson would successfully found Steve Jackson Games and release Car Wars that year, an autodueling game that would do for armed and armored cars what Melee did for fantasy fighters.
Arms Law by Fischer, Fenlon, and Charlton published by Iron Crown Enterprises. A highly detailed chart driven supplement that could be used to replace the combat system in D&D, or other games. In the coming years it will be joined by Spell Law2000 spells[u]Claw Law[u], Character Law, etc. These will ultimately be combined into the Rolemaster game system.
The Morrow Project by Dockery, Sadler, and Tucholka published by Timeline games. A first RPG focused on detailed modern combat, player charterers are frozen soldiers awakened 150 years after WWIII.
Top Secret by Rasmussen and Hammack published by TSR. The espionage RPG includes vestigial classes, percentile based attributes and skills and introduces Fame and Fortune points which characters can use to get out of otherwise deadly situations.
Deities and Demigods by Ward with Kuntz and Schick published by TSR. A total revamp of Gods, Demigods and Heroes, this book would include information for several historical pantheons (Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Sumerian, etc) plus Arthurian Heroes, and pantheons drawn from Fritz Liebers Newhon, Michael Moorcocks Elric stories, and H.P. Lovecrafts (and others) Cthulhu mythos. It would also introduce new non-human gods that would be some of the first deities created specifically for D&D. Entries were presented in Monster Manual style, implying that gods should serve as high level opponents. While there was an agreement with Chaosium to include the Cthulhu and Elric material, these were dropped from later printings.
World of Greyhawk by Gygax published by TSR. An expanded version of Gary Gygaxs home campaign setting, presented concisely and allowing DMs ample scope for expansion and modification. A mix of the quasi historical and purely fantastic, this is the setting for most early AD&D adventures.
These include Gygaxs S2 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, which allows the PCs to find a crashed spaceship and Sutherlands and Gygaxs Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits, which allows the PCs to travel to other planes and fight a demon goddess. Others include 3 adopted from tournament play: A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity by Cook, C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan by Johnson and Leason and C2 The Ghost Tower of Inverness by Hammack. All have pre-generated characters and boxed text that the DM could use to quickly describe an area. Tamoachan also comes with a book of illustrations and impractically small encounter/battle maps.
Zork by Anderson, Blank, Daniels, and Lebling is released by Infocom. Originally named Dungeon, until receiving a notice of trademark violation from TSR, in this text based video game the player explores a sprawling labyrinth and ultimately earns the title Dungeon Master. It also includes grues. Ultima I by Garriott (aka Lord British) is released by Origin Systems and includes dungeon crawling and characters defined by ability scores, classes, level and race, one choice of which is Bobbit. It does however also have space combat. Trubshaw and Bartle at Essex University develop MUD (multi-user dungeon), and make it available on the ARPANet, the predecessor to the internet.
The Role-Playing Game Association is founded by Mentzer and TSR to facilitate tournament play of D&D and later other TSR games.
Call of Cthulhu by Peterson et al published by Chaosium. A masterful combination of 1920s cosmic horror and innovative enough mechanics, CoC allows for relatively normal characters to become embroiled in the world of Lovecrafts Cthulhu mythos, often disastrously so. CoC is based on Perrin and Staffords Basic Roleplaying system, which was also included in the box. This year Chaosium would also publish Stormbringer; based on Michael Moorcocks Elric stories and also using the BRP system.
Champions by Mac Donald and Peterson published by Hero Games. Introducing a point buy system of advantages and disadvantages and effect based powers that allowed for the creation of highly custom and genre appropriate characters, Champions continues the trend to more detailed genre-simulation while becoming the most popular supers game.
Aftermath! by Charrette and Hume published by Fantasy Games Unlimited. A more complex and realistic take on the post apocalyptic struggle for survival. With truly detailed firearm rules and a number of flow charts and tables sometimes needing more advanced mathematics to resolve.
The Mechaniod Invasion by Siesmbieda published by Palladium Books. The PCs are colonists on another planet attacked by cybernetic aliens. Both an early mecha game and the debut of the class-level anything goes D&D variant system that will be expanded in latter Palladium products. No advanced math required.
Dungeons and Dragons Basic Rules Set by Moldvay and Expert Rules Set by Cook with Moldvay published by TSR. A streamlined presentation of original Dungeons and Dragons, the two box sets would now become a free-standing game, (legally) distinct from AD&D. While part of TSRs strategy to move from D&D the dorm to junior high, the game is complete, usable by adults (albeit often with other versions of D&D), and, with their Erol Otus covers, retaines the games weird sword and sorcery vibe. It would clarify race as class implied in Holmes Basic and place more explicit emphasis on wilderness exploration and founding settlements. B/X D&D would also have its own unique Known World sketched out in X1 Isle of Dread , the expert sets companion module.
Fiend Folio edited by Turnbull published by TSR. Originally to be published by D&D UK Licensee Games Workshop, the Folio would reprint a number of monsters first published in White Dwarf, together with some from various D&D modules, and some submitted to Dwarf but not published. The book, which introduces the Githyanki, Slaad, and Flumph to the world, is criticized in two reviews in Dragon, to which Trunbull writes a rebuttal. Ed Greenwoods is particularly critical.
TSR publishes 9 more (A)D&D modules. Together with X1, Cook also does I1 Dwellers in the Forbidden City, which introduces the yuan ti snake men. The new Expert set is also supported by Moldvays ambitious X2 Castle Amber. The slaver series continues with A2 Secrets of the Slavers Stockade by Johnson with Moldvay, A3 Assualt on the Aerie of the Slave Lords by Hammock, and A4 in the Dungeons of the Slave Lords by Schick. Two adventures for new characters featuring nearby villages are also released: L1 the Secrets of Bone Hill by Lafoka and U1 Sinister Secrets of Saltmarsh by Browne with Turnball (and considered British, like the Folio). This leaves
B3 Palace of the Silver Princess by Wells (and Moldvay) published by TSR (twice). Jean Wells originalthe first product by a woman at TSRis quickly recalled and replaced by a substantially revised module. The originals art (which caricatures Gygax and other TSR staff) is considered in poor taste, the approach out of step with other products (fill in the blanks monsters as in B1) and it is basically considered just too odd as is.
TSR now has 200 employees and still expanding. It replaces (some of) its typewriters with a computer and terminals.
The Polyhedron newsletter is published by the RPGA.
Mazes and Monsters by Jaffa published by Delacorte Press. A quickly written highly fictionalized account of the James D. Egbert steam tunnel incident, the book would equate RPGs with mental illness and violent behavior. It is joined by Hobgoblin by Coyne and a growing undercurrent of hysteria.
Behind Enemy Lines by Keith et al published by FASA. Traveler (for which FASA published supplements) derived rules for WWII combat roleplaying. Its joined by Recon by Martin, where characters are Vietnam era special forces, and (in 83) FGUs contemporary Merc by Bader, Sangee, and Mark.
Star Trek: The Role Playing Game by McLimore, Poehlein, and Tepool published by FASA. Characters are Star Fleet officers exploring strange new worlds. Star Trek uses a variant of the now popular percentile based skill system with Traveler influence in character generation and includes rules for psionics and spaceship combat that allows the whole party to contribute. The game draws heavily from the first and animated series, and makes great effort to fill in various gaps in the Star Trek universe, briefly creating its own Star Trek canon.
Star Frontiers by Winter et al published by TSR. Action oriented and light in tonerubbery amoeboids and gliding ape men as PC races, worm things as the main enemyand with a now ubiquitous percentile skill system, the game is positioned to tap into TSR broad and every younger target demographic. However this is somewhat undermined by overly complex design by committee. The Knight Hawks supplement space combat rules become popular as a free standing war/board game.
Gangbusters by Krebs and Acres published by TSR. Focused on crime and corruption in the prohibition era, the game is notable for relatively concise and complete rules (with percentile skills) and individualized experience points for achieving career specific goals. In a similar 20s/30s pulp vein Daredevils by FGU stalwarts Charrette and Hume adds to that companies large and growing list of RPGs.
Worlds of Wonder by Perrin published by Chaosium. Building on Chaosiums Basic Role-Playing, this includes three short adaptations emphasizing BRP universal potential: fantasy, supers, and science fiction; and a setting where the three meet.
A Campaign and Adventurers Guidebook for Middle Earth by Fenlon published by Iron Crown Enterprises. A generic supplement for any fantasy RPG (including D&D) with a very high quality poster map, this is the first Lord of the Rings RPG product. (ICE was the first to ask permission). ICE also starts publishing Middle Earth supplements for Rolemaster, though these would also be rules light (and hence usable with D&D). ICE generally avoids direct overlap with the Lord of the Rings, setting the supplements centuries earlier and often in areas distant from those focused on in the trilogy.
Fantasy Wargamming by Galloway published by Stein and Day/Doubleday. Distributed in book stores and by the Science Fiction Book Club, this is another realistic fantasy RPG; it includes possibly useful background material on medieval Europe and the rules of a barely playable RPG. FGU also adds the class and money-less Sword Bearer and SPI the complex Dragonquest to the fantasy pile.
TSR publishes a modest 8 adventures for its two D&Ds: B4 The Lost City, another ambitious Moldvay creation; S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth and WG 4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun , two linked adventures by Gygax, the first being the revised version of one of the first modules (from 76) that would introduce the Demonicon of Iggwiz; the second would introduce its namesake god, originally created by Kuntz. The others are Saltmarsh sequel U2 Danger at Dunnwater by Browne and Turnball, the not directly connected N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God by Niles and I2 Tomb of the Lizard King by Acres, and the mystery X3 Curse of Xanathon also by Niles; .
and Pharaoh by Hickman and Hickman. Originally written and self published by husband and wife Tracy and Laura in 77, the Egyptian themed adventure with its strong mix of atmosphere, story, and exploration was one of a series of adventures, and ideas, the Hickmans brought with them to TSR.
Mayfair Games issues AD&D compatible adventures in the Role Aids line, starting with half a dozen in 1982. The line would be prolific with dozens of products, but would not get an official license from TSR, in spite of Gygax apparently suggesting they receive one.
Dungeon of Dread by Estes published by TSR. The first of 36 books published in the Endless Quest line over the next 5 years, these are similar to Bantams Choose Your Own Adventure series, but longer, with somewhat more detailed characters, and of course D&D specific references.
Warlock of Firetop Mountain by Jackson (of England) and Livingstone published by Puffin. The first of 59 books in what would become the highly popular Fighting Fantasy Series, the Games Workshops founders added simple character stats and dice rolling to the Choose Your Own Adventure approach.
Dungeons and Dragons is sold in 20 countries and is translated into French, the first of 16 languages (along with English) it would be sold in. TSR sales double, again, to $20 million (of which roughly $16 million is D&D), and it now has over 300 employees. As it turns out, this would be the most it would have for some time.
Mazes and Monsters is made into a TV movie starring Tom Hanks. His character is driven crazy by the game, forever believing that he is his cleric, Pardeux.
YouTube - Mazes and Monsters - Tom Hanks Freaks Out
In June, Irving Lee Bink Pulling kills himself. According to his mother Patricia, hours after a D&D curse was placed on him during a game conducted at his local high school. She sues the principal and then latter TSR over the death of her son.
Gary Gygax finds himself in Hollywood, president of TSR (later D&D) Entertainment. Kevin and Brian Blume are left in charge at HQ in Lake Geneva.
A January New York Times article speculates that D&D may become the game of the 1980s, in the way that Monopoly was the game of the 1930s.
James Bond by Klug et al published by Victory Games. Appropriately action oriented take on the books and movies. Includes rules for chases, gambling, and seduction. Tasks are resolved with a "quality results table"; the GM sets difficulty, and the result of a single percentile die roll determines how successful the action is. Bond is joined this year by Stackpoles Mercenaries, Spies, Private Eyes, published by Flying Buffalo (and bearing clear vestiges of Tunnels and Trolls) and Hero Games Espionage by MacDonald and Peterson.
Lords of Creation by Moldvay published by Avalon Hill. This rules-simple RPG by the D&D Basic Set designer is a first by the war game publisher and allows powerful characters to travel through time, space, and genres, or experience them all mixed together. Avalon Hill also releases the complex fantasy RPG Powers and Perils by Snider.
Harn by Crosby published by Columbia Games. A real fantasy world for any fantasy rpg, it is later supported by its own involved system, 86s Harnmaster, as is the style of the time. It is joined on the ever growing fantasy RPG pile by the Palladium Role-playing Game by Siembieda, which bucks the trend towards detailed realism (though it does have a parry role), hewing closer to D&D in substance and tone and outlasting many contemporary games.
Dungeons and Dragons Basic Rules Set by Mentzer and Expert Rules Set revised by Mentzer published by TSR. The third basic set keeps the same rules but thoroughly revises presentation to make them more accessible to an ever younger target audience. The Keep on the Borderlands is replaced by a solo scenario. The Expert set also receives a mild update.
Monster Manual II by Gygax published by TSR. The third book of monsters for (A)D&D would reprint monsters from Dragon magazine and various modules including Dwellers in the Forbidden City ( Yuan-Ti ) and Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth ( Behir ) and introduce Devas, Mondrons, Duergar, and several others. Gygax also penns the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting, this box set is a much expanded version of 1980's folio, incorporating Greyhawk Deities and other material originally published in Dragon as well as some new details on the Flanaess.
TSR publishes 15 (A)D&D adventures, including flashbacks to the original Castle Greyhawk in Gygaxs Alice inspired EX1 Dungeonland and EX2 Land Beyond the Magic Mirror ; Bone Hill sequel and murder mystery L2 Assasins Knot by Lakofka; Saltmarsh finale U3 The Final Enemy by Brown and Turnbull and Uk1 Beyond the Crystal Cave also by Brown (with Kirby and Morris) another distinct British module with an emphasis on problem solving over fighting; Niles intro adventure B5 Horror on the Hill ; Cooks X4 Master of the Desert Nomads and its sequel X5 Temple of Death; and 3 intended for solo or one on one play (MSOL1 Blizzard Pass, MSOL2 Maze of the Riddling Minotaur, and O1 The Gem and the Staff). Hickmans Pharaoh sequels I4 Oasis of the White Palm and I5 Lost Tomb of Martek are also published, as is
I6 Ravenloft. Another adventure that Hickman and Hickman would bring to TSR, the Gothic Horror inspired Ravenloft is a fusion of traditional dungeon, story, and theme that includes other novel elements, such as 3D maps of the castle and a fortune telling that randomly determined key parts of the adventure.
Gygaxs Hollywood adventures pay off when The Dungeons & Dragons Cartoon debuts September 17 on CBS. With 27 episodes over 3 seasons, the cartoon features the adventures of kids pulled from our world into the D&D world: Hank the Ranger, Sheila the Thief, Presto the Magician, Eric the Cavalier, Diana the Acrobat, and Bobby the Barbarian. There they meet Uni the unicorn and the kindly but enigmatic Dungeon Master, do battle with Venger and Tiamat, solve a range of problems, and get chased by orcs. The cartoon leads its time slot for two years but is cited as one of the most violent shows on childrens television.
The cartoon also spawns over a hundred licenses, including D&D toys made by LJN.
Strong game sales and licensing lead to financial failure as the Blume brothers over diversify. TSR own attempts to manufacture toys, miniatures, and needlecraft kits (yes, thats right) lead to multi-million dollar losses. TSR responds with what would become the first of regular and frequent layoffs by the company that makes D&D. Two waves of cuts would reduce the staff by more than half, to under 150 employees.
Over 40 new and revised RPGs are released and distributed nationally by catalog and through a burgeoning network of hobby game stores. These include those of the new Pacesetter games, one of a series of companies founded by former TSR employees: the horror game Chill, the Star Wars inspired Starace, and the time travel game Timemaster. The games by Acres, Sanchez, Spiegle, Hayday, Smith, and Williams, are light on rules and tone and would follow the lead of James Bond in using a single action table to resolve various tasks.
Other less serious releases include Toon by Costikyan and Spector and published by Steve Jackson Games and Paranoia, also by Costikyan and Gelber, Goldberg and Rolston and published by new to RPGs West End Games. The first allows for the play of immortal and zany cartoon characters; the second highly mortal trouble shooters looking for commie mutant scum who happen to be commie mutant scum. Fortunately when your character dies, his clone is waiting to take his commie mutant scum place.
Twilight 2000 by Chadwick with Astell, Harsham, and Wiseman published by GDW. Not particularly light or light hearted, this game by the Traveler publisher quickly establishes itself as the premier military RPG and is helped by its premise of limited apocalypseCentral Europe after (or technically during) a low grade nuclear exchange and conventional warthat allows for the use of modern heavy weapons with the freedom that RPGers tend to prefer.
Middle Earth Role Playing by Charlton with Ruemmler, Britton, and Fenlon published by ICE. MERP is a free standing game using a light version of the Rolemaster rules (though not light enough for some given the source material). A top-seller that is translated into 12 languages; as with ICEs earlier LotR offerings, the game is set in a period other then the trilogy and supplements (about 21 not including adventures) are rules-light enough to be used with that other FRPG.
Das Schwarze Auge (The Dark Eye) by Kiesow published by Schmidt Spiel & Freizeit GmbH. The fantasy RPG rapidly becomes the biggest selling RPG in Germany and will be translated into Dutch, French, and Italian (It will be a few editions before an English translation is released). This edition has a complexity level slightly above that of Basic D&D: it grows rapidly with each subsequent iteration. One novel mechanic is spell casting, which requires the player to recite memorized formulas.
TSR enters the market for licensed properties with Marvel Super Heroes by Grub and Winter and The Adventures of Indiana Jones by Cook. Both are rules light games and neither really supports character creation: players are expected to play familiar fictional characters. Marvel Super Heroes, which also has a universal table called a Universal Table, becomes a popular alternative to Champions. Expanded rules, including for character generation, are presented in a 86 Advanced Set. Indiana Jones is neither as successful nor enduring, and becomes most notable for its connection to the Dianna Jones game award trophy: a solid plastic pyramid that encase some burnt remains of the game that survived the destruction of unsold copies by TSR UK at the termination of the license.
The Dungeons and Dragons Companion Set by Mentzer released by TSR. This goes beyond the Expert set with rules for characters 15-25. It includes PC castle and domain management, tournaments, and the influential War Machine that allows for the resolution of mass battles with a few rolls of the dice.
TSR publishes 26 modules for (A)D&D, including more licensed properties: CB1 Conan Unchained by Cook and CB2 Conan against the Darkness by Rolston, with rules for Hyborian Age play and stats for Conan and some friends. WG5 Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure by Kuntz and Gygax, taken from Kuntzs Maure Castle were Gygaxs wizard did some adventuring, is another module harkening back to the early days of D&D. N2 The Forest Oracle by Smith is arguable the worst adventure ever produced by TSR, though it does include a yeti.
4 of the adventures Dl1 Dragons of Despair , Dl2 Dragons of Flame , DL 3Dragons of Hope , and DL4 Dragons of Desolation are the outcome of yet another one of the ideas the Hickmans brought with them to TSR. Dragonlance, led by Tracy Hickman and including Dobson, Grubb, Johnson, Moore, Niles, and Williams, was a project supported by TSRs marketing department to bring more dragons to Dungeons & Dragons. Under the codename Project Overlord a new D&D world and series of linked adventures are developed that place more emphasis on participating in a high fantasy story, with the players encouraged to play pre-generated characters and the DM encouraged to move them through a number of predetermined milestones, sometimes regardless of the players actions.
The adventures would also be tied to a series of novels ultimately written by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis. Originally seen as supporting the first set of modules, Dragons of Autumn Twilight sells in the millions, is translated into a number of languages, and helps to spawn hundreds of games, books and licensed Dragonlance products.
When her case against TSR over the death of her son is thrown out of court, Patricia Pulling founds BADD (Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons) and spends the following years as an expert on the occult linking RPGs to real demons and devils. The occult link is accepted in parts of the religious community, and makes it into a Chick Tract, Dangerous Dungeons
DragonRaid by Wulf published by Adventures for Christ. The PCs are LigthRaiders who face inner conflicts and use the quotation of Bible scripture to fight dragons and other sinning monsters in the world of EdenAgain. They get to use a crystal d10 vs. the evil doing non-believers black d8. Combat is fairly detailedincluding critical hitsand is used to subdue those that can be saved and slay monsters that have clear real life equivalents. Pulling et al denounce it as a RPG and hence innately bad. It remains in print.
The Dungeon Master: The Disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III by Dear reveals that the detectives early conflation of D&D, steam tunnels, and Egberts death was just that. Its publication does nothing to deter Pulling and her growing number of fellow believers.
Dragon Magazine, edited by Mohan and published by TSR reaches its peak circulation of 118,000 (versus 60,000 in 82 and 20,000 in 1980)
While overall RPG sales begin to plateau after years of rapid growth, hobby gaming remains vibrant, with both old and new games sold through the network of stores built largely off the success of D&D. These include newly released Battletech from FASA, Supremacy from Supremacy Games, and Axis and Allies from Milton Bradely. Games Workshops Warhammer Fantasy Battles (1st ed in 83, 2nd ed in 84), would return to the roots of roleplaying with its rules and figures for fantasy miniature warfare.
With all the success of D&D as a brand and revenue source, TSRs debt keeps growing and the company is forced to layoff 35% more staff, reducing the total to less then 100.
Gary Gygax is again the CEO of TSR, relieving Kevin Blume of the position. He is looking to prevent out and out bankruptcy. He brings someone he met in Hollywood with him: A new investor and manager, and non-gamer, Lorraine Williams is heiress to the Buck Rogers fortune.
Last edited by TerraDave; Thursday, 7th April, 2011 at 07:36 PM.
Tuesday, 29th March, 2011, 05:33 PM #2
The Grand Druid (Lvl 20)
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King Arthur Pendragon by Stafford is released by Chaosium. The first truly Arthurian RPG, the game uses elements of Chaosiums BRP system combined with innovative systems for character personality traits and passions and dynastic campaigns that can span many years. It has no orcs or fireballs, Picts are optional.
The trend towards licensed games continues with DC Heroes by Gordon published by Mayfair, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and other Strangeness by Wujcik published by Palladium, Judge Dread by Priestly published by Games Workshop, and The Doctor Who Role Playing Game by Wheeler et al published by FASA. TMNT is particular popular, but is undermined by the later television show, which makes the Turtles too cute and undermines the games appeal to teenagers.
The large number of fantasy RPGs also continues to grow with Fantasy Hero by Peterson with McDonald released by Hero Games, Atlantis/The Arcanum/Talislanta by Sechi and Taylor from Bard Games, and Skyrealms of Jorune by Lekers, Teves, and Lekers from Sky Realms Publishing. The last is entirely elf free.
TSR also releases more licensed products with the Conan Roleplaying Game by Cook, combat heavy and skill based and supported by 3 modules and Lankhmar, City of Adventures , by Nesmith, Niles, and Rolston, a campaign setting for the AD&D game set in Fritz Liebers Newhon city.
Dungeons & Dragons Master Set by Gygax and Mentzer released by TSR. One of a number of products that will have Gygaxs name on it in 85, the set extends the Mentzer edited version of the game to level 36. It introduces rules for weapon mastery to D&D and describes how to manage high level parties and the small empires they may possess.
TSR publishes three AD&D hardbacks: Unearthed Arcana and Legends and Lore are composed primarily of previously published material. Arcana by Gygax is mostly taken from earlier Dragon articles and includes the Barbarian, Cavalier, Thief-Acrobat, an incredibly generous way of generating ability scores, non-human deities and a description of all those pole-arms. Lore is a repacking of the later printings of Deities and Demigods, which had already removed the Cthulhu and Elric/Melnibonean mythi. The rational is that changing the name would help appease the religious right, one of the first concessions to the BADD crowd.
Oriental Adventures has Gygaxs name on it, was supposed to be written by François Marcela-Froideval, but is actually written by David Zeb Cook. It includes new classes, races, spells and systems for martial arts. It also introduces non-weapon proficiencies, mostly non-adventuring skills with a roll under ability score mechanic, to AD&D. As the first AD&D products with player oriented content since the PHB, OA and Arcana are some of the best selling products in recent years.
Battlesystem by Niles with Winter is released by TSR. Bringing (A)D&D back to its miniature warfare roots, this big box set has rules and scenarios for mass battles and hundreds of counters along with a mini painting guide and fold up 3-D terrain. Designed to allow standard monsters, characters, spells, and magic items to be used in big battles, results are mixed.
Twenty adventure modules are released for the two versions of D&D by TSR. This includes several more in the Dragonlance saga (DL 6-DL 10). T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil by Gygax and Mentzer, which includes the long released Village of Homlett and its long anticipated sequel, is the first super adventure for D&D and the largest dungeon yet released for it. Gygaxs WG6 Ilse of the Ape is a King Kong inspired adventure first used in his Castle Greyhawk campaign. In H1 Bloodstone Pass , by Niles and Dobson, the party defends a town from attack using the Battlesystem. Dobsons X10 Red Arrow, Black Shield also uses Battlesystem and the War Machine from the Companion Set. X9The Savage Coast by Rasmussen, Rasmussen, and Gray introduce a new region to the D&D known world.
Inspired by the success of the Dragonlance novels (but with a style much closer to the pulp fantasy that inspired D&D) Gygaxs Gord the Rogue debuts in a short story in the special 100th issue of Dragon Magazine. Gord appears in novel form shortly thereafter in Saga of Old City .
A report on the CBS television program 60 Minutes highlights the potential link between D&D and teenage murder and suicide. Patricia Pulling and Gary Gygax are both included, with Pulling arguably appearing more sympathetic.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YebKDwXwmX8&playnext=1&list=PL0D54342ED1A2 4622[/ame]
It is estimated if 3-4 million people play D&D and other TSR RPGs. Strong sales of about $30 million stave off bankruptcy for TSR.
Perhaps in retaliation for removing Kevin as CEO, the Blume brothers sell their controlling stake in TSR to Loraine Williams. Gygax fights the move in court. After losing the suite, Gygax is removed as President and Chairmen by the TSR board, and Williams takes full control. He leaves TSR at the end of the year. More lawsuits follow.
GURPS Basic Set by Jackson (of Texas) with Creede and Lambard published by Steve Jackson Game. Descended from the The Fantasy Trip and Jacksons minigames from the 70s, the Generic Universal Role-playing System is a flexible implementation of the now popular point buy/advantage-disadvantage/skill based RPG. Capable of varying levels of complexityfrom medium to very highthe system becomes known in part for its many supplements that often include substantial non-mechanical information and support play across a range of genres, with or without the GURPS rules.
Ghostbusters by Peterson and Willis with Stafford published by West End Games. Based on the movie, Ghostbusters is innovative and influential, if not a huge commercial hit. With relatively simple, action oriented rules, Ghostbusters introduces both the dice pool and a roll high universal check: the player gets a number of dice equal to their score in a trait (ability) or talent (skill, based on a trait), rolls them, and adds together. If the total exceeds a difficulty number, its a success. This would evolve into the D6 system used in other West End games.
The hot trend of giant fighting robots spawns the official Battletech tie in, FASAs Mechwarrior , very much an adjunct to the popular board/minis game. Palladium releases Robotech by Siembieda; based on the Japanese cartoon (a.k.a Macross) it uses Palladiums standard class and level approach.
Warhammer Fantasy Role Play by Halliwell et al published by Games Workshop. Set in the same universe as the minis game, this extensive and detailed RPG takes a grim, dangerous, and British approach to fantasy. Its career system allows a ratcatcher to someday become a giant slayer, assuming he can live that long.
Dungeons and Dragons Immortals Set by Mentzer published by TSR. The final piece of the Moldvay/Cook/Mentzer version of D&D allows the characters to ascend to godlike beings. In many ways a new RPG were the characters are overseen by even more powerful and established divine beings, in a somewhat dry and abstract megaverse.
The Dungeoneers Survival Guide by Niles and the Wilderness Survival Guide by Mohan are published by TSR for AD&D. These include non-weapon proficiencies, and adds more fiddly subsystems to AD&D. In spite of the DSGs Ravenloft inspired 3D mapping tips, they are are some of the worst selling AD&D hardbacks, and are available at deep discount for years to come.
TSR releases 25 modules for its two D&Ds. These include DA1 Adventures in Blackmoor and DA2 Temple of the Frog . Coauthored by Dave Arnenson (with David Ritchie) and based on the D&D co-creators original Blackmoor campaign setting; Arneson had done the project at Gygaxs urging, when the later was still in charge.
Oriental Adventures OA1 Swords of the Daimyo and OA2 Night of the Seven Swords by Cook et al, introduce the eastern land of Kara-Tur. Pulp fiction adventures include CA1 Swords of the Undercity by Smith, Nesmith, and Niles and CA2 Swords of Deceit by Bourne, Rolston, Ecca, and Dobson, each set in Lankmar and RS1 Red Sonja Unconquered by McCready. Sadly, they are not wildly popular.
More Battlesystem compatible adventures include H2 The Mines of Bloodstone by Dobson and Niles and two of the years three Dragonlance modules DL12 Dragons of Faith by Johnson and Heard and DL14 Dragons of Triumph by Niles. DL 11 Dragons of Glory is not technically an adventure, but a wargame set in Krynn.
In IM1 The Immortal Storm by Mentzer, junior gods face various test and, well, a powerful storm that takes them to a plane of musical notes and staves and, as the cosmos is at stake, New York and Chicago.
I10 Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill , by Hickman, Hickman, Cook, Grub, Johnson, AND Niles is a disappointing sequel to the classic. Wilderness and town adventure B10 Nights Dark Terror by Bambra, Morris, and Gallagher is considered one of the best of recent years.
In the back of Dragon 117 (January 1987), at the end of multi-contributor column, David Zeb Cook mentions that work has started on the second edition of AD&D. In Dragon a few months later, Gygax, who has not appeared in its pages for some time, is allowed to provide a final column were he notes his leaving TSR and the creation of New Infinities Productions.
Ars Magica by Tweet and Hagen is published by Lions Rampant. Players are powerful wizards and their retainers in a mythical 13th century France. Magica includes innovations from games like Ghost Busters and Pendragon, and some major ones of its own. In addition to a well presented and coherent, near historical setting, the game includes a simpler, standard roll high check with a single die; a highly flexible magic system with spells built up from underlying elements; multiyear campaigns with rules for seasons, spell and magic item research, and the wizards home base (covenants); and the possibility of troupe style play with players sharing game mastering duties. The idea of sharing story control is also found in Ramparts first publication, Whimsy Cards , with allow the player to influence the plot beyond his characters direct control.
Star Wars by Costikyan with Smith and Rolston published by West End Games. Fast paced and action oriented, Star Wars uses the D6 system prototyped in Ghost Busters. Includes rules for making droids and very, very powerful force users. As with FASAs Star Trek, the 120+ supplements published for the game over the coming years will become an important source of Star Wars lore.
Cyborg Commando by Gygax, Mentzer, and Mohan published by New Infinities Productions. Players are cyborgs defending Earth from alien invaders in 2035. Gygax would bring Mentzer and Mohan with him from TSR (Mohan would latter return). NIPs first CEO would engage in fraud, and its second would force early printing of Cyborg, leading to a product considered by many who managed to see it to be amateurish and incomplete. NIP would shortly enter bankruptcy.
Forgotten Realms by Greenwood with Grubb and Martin published by TSR. The Realms actually predate D&D, being a setting for short stories by Ed Greenwood. Greenwood had long been a freelance contributor to Dragon, and many of his articles allude to the Realms and include its most famous denizen, Elminster. The initial box set still leaves substantial room for development by the DM, but the details start to be filled in, first with F1, Waterdeep and the North , and FR2, Monshae (by Niles and originally a separate product). The Festhalls on some Realms maps are called something else in Greenwoods campaign.
TSR also releases the first D&D hardback for a campaign setting, Dragonlance Adventures , by Hickman and Weis. Manual of the Planes by Grubb is another AD&D hardback. The book goes to great lengths to make sense of AD&Ds cosmology as it has developed and includes details for the many planes of existence.
GAZ1The Grand Duchy of Karameikos by Allston published by TSR for (BEMCI) D&D. Describing the part of D&Ds Known World were the Keep on the Borderlands and other classic adventures could be set, this is the first of 4 Gazetteers published this year and 13 overall. Later Gazetteers would include new rules, AD&D conversions, and, in the Orcs of Thar, a simple boardgame of warring bands of monstrous humanoids (also published in Dragon).
20 modules are published for the two D&Ds by TSR. This includes DA3City of the Gods by Arneson and Ritchie, were the characters can find alien technological devices and DA4 Duchy of Ten , by Ritchie which gives more background on the first D&D campaign setting. DQ1 The Shattered Statue by Jaquay with Ritchie and Klug is one of the first set in the Realms and can also be used with the Dragonquest game (acquired when TSR bought SPI). I12 Egg of Phoenix by Mentzer and Jaquay, and based on 4 previous, unlinked, RPGA tournament adventures, introduces a new continent to Oerth, and includes dungeon and wilderness adventure, time travel, planer travel, slavers, elemental evil, puns and odd cultural references, Docs Island
The RPGA introduces the Living City in its Polyhedron newsletter and at the Gencon game fair. Ravensbluff is set in the Realms and is developed largely by fans as a single shared campaign setting.
Cook and Steve Winters begin work on second edition AD&D. This is explained as mostly a project to clean up and clarify the rules. In practice, more radical options, like eliminating character classes, or even, gods forbid, ascending AC, are considered, at least briefly. In Dragon 118, a little more then halfway back in the magazine, in a column entitled Who Dies, Cook confirms that the assassin wont be in 2nd edition, that the monk, barbarian, and cavalier, wont be in the PHB, and bard, druid, and ranger are also suspect. Also mentioned are proficiencies/skills and a special book devoted entirely to fighters. He also confirms he likes paladins and asks for letters from fans.
Cyberpunk by Pondsmith et al published by R. Talsorian Games. Inspired by Blade Runner, the works of William Gibson, the Road Warrior and other near future dystopias, the game would be both topicalstealing the zeitgeist from giant fighting robotsand forward looking to the wired, angsty 90s. Characters are hackerswith sometimes game stopping rules for hackingassassins, road warriors, corporate flacks, etc. Includes common game elements like the fairly elaboratebut relatively fastdevelopment of background, skills with a common roll high resolution mechanic, and templates (professions in this case) instead of classes. Combat is lethal and the emphasis is on neo-noir investigation, though 1980s action violence can also be part of the game, especially if pcs have armor or cybernetics.
Lighter toned games include TSRs Rocky and Bullwinkle , an RPG that doesnt have many rules, but does have hand puppets, and Space: 1889 by Chadwick from GDW, in which the characters are British Imperialist exploring other planetsinhabited of coursein Ether Flyers.
The City System by Grubb and Greenwood published by TSR. The box set provides ever greater detail on Waterdeep, with 11 or so maps.
Greyhawk Adventures by Ward et al published by TSR. The first major post Gygax work on Greyhawk, it is also the thirteenth and final book for first edition AD&D. Based on hundreds of letter Jim Ward solicited from the public and nominally meant to transition to second edition, it would include rules for level 0 characters. It does not include the word gygax.
TSR releases only a handful of adventure modules. One of these would be the other Greyhawk product: WG7 Castle Greyhawk. While it has the WG code shared with various Gygax penned adventures, this is not his Castle, the long anticipated first dungeon for D&D. While some of its related eleven levels are done by prominent designersSteve Perrin, Paul Jaquay--WG7 is a spoof adventure and references Star Trek, Col. Sanders, the Pillsbury Doughboy, the Temple of Really Bad Dead Things
Speaking of which, H4, The Throne of Bloodstone , by Niles and Dobson, allows really high level characters to enter the abyss and fight Orcus. FRC1 Ruins of Adventure by Breault, Cook,Ward, and Winter ties into the first (A)D&D computer game
Pool of Radiance published by SSI. The Gold Box game allows the player to create a party of AD&D characters and explore around the Realms city of Phlan. This would become the model for a number of AD&D games, and characters could be created in one Gold Box game and used in another.
Drizzt DoUrden, the duel scimitar wielding drow ranger (based on Unearthed Arcana), makes his debut in Bob Salvatores The Crystal Shard . Drizzt will feature in many, many books to come.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition hits the shelves with new Players Handbook and Dungeon Master Guide , both by Cook with Winters and Pickens. Consistent with Cooks 87 column, there are no monks, assassins, cavaliers, or barbarians, or half orcs for that matter in the new PHB. The bard is now a standard class, the ranger has been substantially revised into a light armor wearing duel wielder (this is not a coincidence) with a single favored enemy, the druid is a kind of specialty priest, and the illusionist a kind of specialty wizard. Wizards come out well, now having access to all illusionist spells and many of those from Unearthed Arcana. Clerics also do well in the spell department, though not quite as well as some think (clerics dont get access to all of the spells in the priest list, which include druid spells). Paladins are still there.
As are level and class limits for demi-humans, odd pole-arms (which the new PHB says are not very good weapons), THAC0introduced in later first edition as an alternative to combat tables, various not entirely compatible ways to sneak, and pretty everything and more needed to keep 2nd Edition backwards compatible. A small number of the more baroque elements are removed or simplified. The PHB also introduces a primitive firearm, the arquebus, with its own special mechanics, and makes a nod to non-cleric specialty priests, but provides little detail on how these should work.
The PHB does now have more of the games rules. It also has a number of non-weapon proficiencies. As is the style of skill systems at this time, these are wide ranging: cobbling, cooking, and dancing direction sense, riding, swimming, and survival and must takes like healing and blind fighting. These are resolved with a roll under d20 mechanic that joins AD&Ds roll high d20 mechanic(s), roll low on %s mechanic for other skills, and roll high and or various numbers on a d10 mechanics and on 2d10 mechanics. The NWP are optional, and the new rules do make clear what is an add-on, what is not, and encourages flexible use and interpretation of the rules.
While the PHB is bigger, the DMG is smaller. It still has general DM advice, hirelings (including historical notes on mercenaries), magic items, and other bits and pieces, like horse quality! But standard encounter tables, random dungeon generation, artifacts, castle construction and sieges, and much of the original DMGs arcana are not included. It is somewhat better organized.
Both PHB and DMG acknowledge Gygax and Arneson and confirm that these are derivative of original AD&D. While somewhat more user friendly then the originals, they are also verbose while striving to be non-offensive, hence the lack of half orcs, assassins, or some of the more interesting art from the earlier books. The tone is dry, the art mostly functional. The language is also simpler, aiming for a younger target audience. In spite of these concessions, sales never approach those of the first edition PHB, which is such a strong seller it is kept in print in 89 even as its sequel it being rolled out.
The PHBs safer tones extends to the monsters, which no longer include ones called demons and devils, in concession to the BADD crowd. There is no monster manual, instead a Monstrous Compendium . This is a binder that has each monster on a loose-leaf page. Each monster has a picture and an extensive write up. The 144 pages in MC1 are missing many obvious monsters. Conveniently MCs 2, 3, and 4 are also published. Monster stats are mostly similar, except for giants and dragons, which are given a major power boost.
Hero System Rulebook by MacDonald, Roberston, and Bell published by Hero Games and Iron Crown Enterprises. Released jointly with the expansive fourth edition of Champions, this includes identical content, except for the supers stuff, and becomes the basis for a new generic system.
Prince Valiant, the Storytelling Game, by Stafford et al published by Chaosium. Chaosiums second Arthurian RPG, the setting is clearly grounded in the comic; with several illustrations from it and simple, novel, rules: to make a check, the sum of your relevant attribute (there are two) and skill determine the number of coins you flip (aka a coin pool) with success determined by the number of heads flipped. The GM is called a storyteller.
Shadowrun by Charrette, Hume, and Dowd published by FASA. A dark, cyber, future takes a strange turn when magic returns and many people are transformed into elves, dwarves, orks, and trolls. The cyber pseudo reality of the game is called the Matrix.
PHBR1 The Complete Fighters Handbook by Allston and PHBR2 The Complete Thieves Handbook by Nephew, Sargent, and Niles published by TSR. The solution to the subclass problem, these introduce kits that can be used to customize a class: Amazon, cavalier, swashbuckler, assassin, burglar, spy, etc. Each has some small changes to the base class, usually to the net benefit of the character taking the kit. That benefit will vary greatly across the kits in these and the 13 PHBR Complete books that follow. These also include a fair amount of non-mechanical informationsome of which is better written and less obvious, some not so muchand other class related rules, like special combat maneuvers for fighters and rules on poison for thieves. New equipment is also included, notably the deadly great spear in PHBR1. They are strong sellers.
The City of Greyhawk by Niles et al details the famous city and is joined by the third Waterdeep supplement FR8 Cities of Mystery by Rabe and LC1 Gateway to Ravensbluff , detailing the RPGAs shared Realms city.
Spelljammer by Grubb published by TSR. Both a new campaign setting, and a way to link AD&Ds burgeoning campaign settings together, Spelljammers Aristotelian-Fantasy physics allows characters to sail around space in ships. Space faring mindflayers and beholders, star pistol wielding wizards, gith space pirates, and giant space hamsters all play a prominent role. It spawns the now requisite line of adventures, accessories, novels, and comics.
TSR publishes 16 modules for the various D&Ds. 2 for Basic, 2 for Oriental Adventures, 3 for Dragonlance, 4 for the Realms, and 5 for a revived Greyhawk, though besides being set on Oerth, adventures like Gargoyle and Childs Play have little in common with their Gygax penned predecessors.
Last edited by TerraDave; Tuesday, 29th March, 2011 at 05:48 PM.
Wednesday, 30th March, 2011, 02:05 PM #3
The Grand Druid (Lvl 20)
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Now with 1983!
The way I cut and pasted it left out that crucial year. Please go back and take a look!
Wednesday, 30th March, 2011, 04:28 PM #4
The Grand Druid (Lvl 20)
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Comments welcome!
Wednesday, 30th March, 2011, 11:55 PM #5
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Excellent work, it touches on all the moments of my early days in gaming minus two years. (started in 78). I remember BADD - my step-dad was a deacon in a Southern Baptist Church, so you know, we didn't have a great relationship after 1984...
Even with all that, this was a great trip down memory lane - thanks.
Thursday, 31st March, 2011, 12:13 AM #6
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Excellent stuff. I've only one minor comment - whereas WSG and DSG non-weapon proficiencies were roll-under-ability-score (as you say), Oriental Adventures had fixed target numbers with roll-high resolution. (And some of the target numbers were ridiculously high - 18 for horseriding, for example.)
Thursday, 31st March, 2011, 12:41 AM #7
It merits mentioning that the WORLD OF GREYHAWK set released in 1980 was the folio edition. 1983 saw the boxed set. They're two similar but different products. Pursuant to that, Gary's "home" GREYHAWK campaign was markedly different than what was published. His campaign shared people and place names, but used a different map. Darlene Pekul's map for the 1980 (and 1983) sets was made specifically for those products.
Thursday, 31st March, 2011, 02:11 PM #8
The Grand Druid (Lvl 20)
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I felt that "expanded" version of Gygaxes home setting was enough of a caveat for this product:
I have added something on this product (and yes, this is the one I have):
Thursday, 31st March, 2011, 09:19 PM #9
Cthulu and Pendragon mentioned but not RuneQuest.
You mention Cthulhu and Pendragon but no mention of RuneQuest.
There should be some mention of RuneQuest and the purchase by Avalon Hill of the RuneQuest system.
Thursday, 31st March, 2011, 09:24 PM #10
The Grand Druid (Lvl 20)
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Since RQ was released in the late 70's, its in the first part (see link at top).
Since the focus is mostly on D&D, I generally don't mention other games after their release, with a very few exceptions. For example, neither Traveller 2300 nor MegaTraveller are here, but Traveller is, again in the first part.
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