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  Grimtooth's Lair: A Lost piece of RPG History 
  By SS Crompton 
  There were some blank pages in the old booklet, 
  so in its 
  place we are adding this little perspective on what Grim­
  tooth's Lair is and what little we know of its origins. 
  First off, 
  it was not sanctioned or approved by Flying Buf­
  falo 
  (Grimtooth's 
  publisher.) 
  It was made to be 
  used for 
  tournament play at Origins Game Fair in 1983. 
  The first time any of us at Buffalo saw it, 
  was after the con­
  vention. 
  I think Mike Stackpole had been given a copy and 
  we 
  all got 
  a 
  look 
  at 
  it. 
  We 
  were flattered that 
  Grimtooth 
  fans 
  had 
  created 
  a 
  tournament 
  book, 
  but 
  weren't 
  too 
  im­
  pressed with it overall. 
  We never saw it again after that. 
  Still it is a unique piece of rpg gaming history. 
  One thing we don't know is who created this book. There are 
  no names anywhere in it, 
  so that remains a mystery. 
  How we found it: 
  Joseph Goodman had heard about this book­
  let 
  and 
  we 
  all 
  began 
  a 
  search 
  to 
  find 
  a 
  copy 
  of 
  it 
  with 
  no 
  luck 
  at 
  all. 
  Most 
  Grimtooth 
  fans 
  we contacted didn't 
  even know it existed, 
  and 
  Flying Buffalo had no copies of 
  it either. 
  Joseph contacted Bill Meinhardt, 
  who 
  has been 
  collecting and archiving fantasy RPG materials for decades 
  and Bill was kind enough to allow us to scan his copy. (See 
  elsewhere in this booklet to read more about Bill's efforts 
  to preserve RPG history.) 
  We hope you enjoy this lost piece of Grimtooth history and 
  who knows after 35 
  yeears, 
  maybe one of you will use this 
  to run a Grimtooth 
  Tournament once again! 
  Grimtooth & Grimtooth's Traps are TM & copyright© 2018 of Flying Buffalo Inc. 
  
  This tournament is designed to be run with ANY role playing system, 
  by 
  any devious GM who wants his players to think, 
  instead of just hacking 
  through. 
  The traps of this game are either fully explained, or a picture has been 
  drawn, 
  so the GM and the player can understand what happened. 
  Please make 
  sure that you don't show the players the trick of the trap, 
  before its been 
  sprung. 
  Please read everything in the boxes to the players. 
  You an 
  your 
  r1en 
  y t e most 
  orr1 
  e master 
  troll, 
  Grimtooth. 
  As you are most aware of his reputation for traps, 
  you realize that you 
  have only to wait for a most horrible lingering death in 
  some 
  twisted 
  mechanical bit. 
  Grimtooth strolls up to you, 
  his entire manner suggesting to you that he 
  is incredibly bored. 
  "I like you,• he says. 
  "Just our luck." your friend whispers to you. 
  "And because I like you, 
  I'm going to give you a chance to live. 
  All 
  you have to do is cross that room, open a door, pass down a corridor, and 
  out 
  to freedom. 
  Easy." 
  he 
  smiles, 
  a 
  terrible 
  thing 
  to behold. 
  "Of 
  course, 
  you could always stay for dinner •••• • 
  With that he turns and leaves. 
  You now become aware of your surroundings. 
  You are in a 30 foot semi 
  circle. 
  On one side is a tall cliff with a opening in the center. 
  On the 
  other side is a loosely woven stick and wire fence, with a door that does 
  not appear to be locked. 
  � 
  Anyone examining the fence will learn the following: 
  It appears to be made of odd sticks and branches, wound with many pieces 
  of wire. 
  The door has a latch on it, and there is no lock. 
  Anyone touching the fence will be caught by the wire, which is wire of 
  strangulation. 
  Roll a twenty sided and score your dex-5 or less in order 
  to break free. 
  If the character can not break free, the wire will strangle 
  him in 04 melee rounds. 
  (A terrible lingering death, 
  bee bee.) 
  Anyone touching the doorway will also be firmly caught, and the door 
  will NOT swing open!! 
  Roll a twenty sided and score your Oex-10 or less to 
  break free 
  (good luck) . 
  A 
  [Oh come on! 
  It's not going to be that easy! I I 
  --In front of the doorway, there is a small spring board that will pop the 
  character stepping on it into the room. 
  Anyone specifically not stating that they are avoiding the front of the 
  door will be poped in when they begin to investigate the doorway or the 
  inside room. 
  Roll a 04 to determine where the character lands. 
  l
  •
  S
   
  2 = 2 
  3
  =
  4
   
  4=6 
  The 30 by 30 foot room 
  s l t by torches in eac 
  ten 
  oot section. 
  T e 
  floor is a smooth black color broken into 10 foot sections. 
  On the section 
  directly to your right a bullseye is painted in red on the floor. 
  On the 
  10 foot section to your left is a body with a sword in it. 
  Directly across 
  from you is a closed door. 
  All squares, 
  unless noted, will appear to be a smooth black color. 
  TORCHES 
  The torches are actually hollow, 
  and so if any are removed from the 
  walls, 
  they spill the oil in the pocket 
  (and inside the torch) 
  all over 
  themselves, causing 06 damage. � 10Tc 
  • .1\'I burn awo� o.�' 'th;.,. 
  S UARE 
  This ten foot section has a bullseye painted on the floor in a bright 
  red. 
  See 
  illustration. 
  If you step on the side nearest the door, KABOOM!! 
  But if you step on 
  the side away from the door, your safe. 
  If they step in the center of the 
  bullseye, 
  roll a 06 1-3 the floor tilts the de�dly way1 
  4 the character 
  1 
  
  2 
  remains balanced (roll again when they move next); 5-6 stepped on the right 
  side (darnl) 
  The dynamite will cause 4D6 damage. 
  SPUME 2 
  See illustration. 
  Make the characters stepping in the square to roll their Int or less on 
  a twenty sided dice. 
  If this roll is made, they notice that the entire 
  square has sunk an inch. 
  The way to thwart this trap is to leave .2.l.l your clothes on the square, 
  thus weighing it down, and causing the cork in the bottle not to be pulled. 
  If the cork is p ulled it releases a hungry mini-wraith from a soul 
  bottle. 
  The mini-wraith will attempt to eat 4 levels. 
  Mini-wraith 
  8 life points 
  ·l. 
  characters need a 13 to hit lie. r.eeO.s o.. t31b h;� 1hw.. '[)(p��/1\11 
  you don't need magic or silver to hit this thing! 
  This is to 
  encourage the players to think, not to assume. 
  body of a human, 
  a sword thrust firmly through his back, 
  the way through. 
  A pool of dried blood surround the body. 
  Touching the body contracts an awful disease, but that won't get the 
  players till later. 
  Searching the pockets will reveal a mousetrap -
  D4 damage. 
  Drawing the sword, 
  harshly moving the body, 
  or any of a thousand sudden 
  movements will cause the sword to cut the rope suspending the ceiling. 
  306 
  damage (as it's a light pourous stone, otherwise the thin rope wouldn't 
  hold it!) 
  [Of course you could beef it up ••• ) 
  SQUARE 4 
  You 
  ear somet ing go CLICK. 
  Count to 
  s ow y. 
  The ceiling drops out 
  and lands with a startling whaml 
  A yellow power is sprayed all over the 
  room. 
  If the player says that he is getting out of that 10 foot square, then 
  he will not have the block fall on him. 
  If he says nothing, 
  306 damage. 
  Any player not crushed under the block, 
  will breath this powder in. 
  (It 
  takes a long time to settle, 
  and they can't hold their breath that long! 
  D4 damage. 
  The powder is powdered magnesium, and it will ignite, and cause 
  the entire room to flash for 3D6 damage. 
  There is one place that the 
  player will not take damage, and that is if he falls down the pit in square 
  s. 
  SQUARE 5 
  Pit trap. 
  Anyone putting any significant weight in this square will 
  trip the top open. 
  There's 
  a fall 
  20 
  feet doing 
  2D6 
  damage 
  to 
  the 
  character. 
  At the bottom of the pit there are three coils of rope. 
  Rope 1: 
  is really a snake. 
  A rope snake. 
  It is sleeping, 
  if it is 
  touched, 
  it will wake up and attack. 
  Snake, 7 points, characters need a 12 
  to hit. 
  He needs a 11 to hit them. 
  Rope 2: 
  half elastic, 
  as characters get half way up, 
  it springs them 
  up and into another square. 
  Depending on what direction they were climbing 
  determines the square they were catapulted onto. 
  D4 damage from the toss. 
  Rope 3 :  
  A rope with a thin core o f  woven needles. 
  A s  weight i s  put 
  on the rope, the needles twist out, causing l point of damage with every 
  hand hold they take to get up 
  (Roll 3 dice at this point, but only give 
  them D4 damage total) . 
  S UARE 6 
  As you 
  step into the square, 
  you notice a flash of movement on the 
  floo<. 
  What do you do? 
  If he ellects to 
  jump out, 
  Roll Dex-3 or less, 
  if they make it, sigh, 
  noting will happen to them. 
  If they don't make it 206 dam.age from slicing 
  blades. 
  You see that sheets of metal have sprung up from the floor, enclosing 
  that 10 foot section in a 6 foot high cube. 
  You hear running water, and 
  realize that the cube is filling with liquid. 
  Anyone caught in the cube will hopefully panic, 
  and try and climb their 
  way out. 
  The top of the walls are razor sharp, D6 damage trying to climb 
  out. 
  Roll 
  Dex 
  or 
  less on a 
  twenty sided to see if 
  they succeed in 
  
  escaping. 
  They can try as long as they like. 
  The water is a easy flow that will fill the bin half way in 8 melees. 
  If the characters are still in the room, 
  they will hear a hissing sound as 
  the liquid reacts with the sides of the wall, 
  coated with another chemical, 
  this mixing will produce a sleeping gas. 
  If they are caught by the gas, 
  they will wake up just in time for 'dinner'. 
  SQUARE 7 
  Once 
  this 10 foot square is stepped into, 
  the sides of the ajoining 
  corner walls will snap together, causing 3D6 damage. 
  This trap will automatically reset itself, 
  taking the next melee to open 
  back into the harmless looking corner. 
  SOU.ARE 8 
  .As the character steps into the square, a slurping squishy noise. 
  The 
  characters (if they bother to look) 
  will discover their boots (or feet) two 
  inches in a black much. 
  If they pull their feet out of the •muck" they will let air into the 
  phosphorous liquid underneath. 
  2D4 damage. 
  To 
  counteract this 
  trap, 
  all 
  they 
  need 
  to do is 
  leave their shoes 
  behind, or carefully scrap the black goo off your feet and back into the 
  square. 
  SOU.ARE 9 
  There is a thin layer of black balsa over a layer of quicksand. 
  If they 
  step onto this 10 foot square, 
  they have three chances to get out. 
  To make 
  things worse, 
  the quicksand is acidic! 
  (Nasty troll!) D�de.w.'"ie pee- fl(fl«. 
  The first melee Roll Dex-2 or less on a 20 sided. ""-l>e><-5,"TX"" 'De•-1 
  DOOR 
  -Uthe door is let go of, it is counter weighted and will swing wide and 
  burst open a 
  panel at the end of the corridor. 
  The 
  broken panel will 
  release a poisonous gas that will do 2D4 damage. 
  S U.l\RE 10 
  The opening of the door has started a small ball rolling down a long 
  circular track. 
  It is a small blue ball that is rolling down the corkscrew 
  track, 
  towards the end where it will fall abruptly toward the g·round a 
  short 3 feet beyond the end of the track. 
  The blue ball falls, 
  and hits 
  the 
  round with an explosion. 
  you can rea 
  a 
  o 
  is square 
  o your p 
  ayers t en it s too 
  ate. 
  Do DB damage. 
  If they players interrupt you, with instructions to capture the ball, or 
  close the door, 
  then they will not take the damage. 
  The corridor is 40 
  feet long with the sky showing at the end. 
  In the 
  ceiling you notice run�ing down the exact center of the corridor is a 
  series of slots each about 2 and a little feet away. 
  If the players state that they are using every other hand hold, 
  they 
  will be fine. 
  .Any other combination should take care of them. 
  SOU.ARE 11 
  There is another pit here with a 20 
  foot drop onto the hard ground. 
  There is a spider in the bottom of the pit. 
  Do 2D6 damage for falling into the pit. 
  Spider 
  7 
  points. 
  bite 
  D4, 
  and 
  the spider 
  needs 
  a 
  10 
  to 
  hit 
  the 
  characters. 
  The characters need a 10 to hit the spider. 
  There is a door at the bottom of the trap. 
  Behind this door, 
  is a water 
  corridor that leads to a outside pool. 
  .Anyone who so much as cracks this 
  door, will get a rush of water that will sweep anyone down in the pit 
  across the pit, 
  and through the balsa wood wall and onto the spikes hidden 
  there. 
  2D6 damage. 
  The hand holds carved in the ceiling are safe, until the characters come 
  to the ones indicated. 
  These are crumbled through, so that any weight will 
  cause them to break at the exact moment to cause the fall. 
  SOU.ARE 12 
  This square has a false balsa wood top that hides the slant beyond it. 
  The hope is that they will discover the trap, and try and leap over it, 
  thus breaking the balsa, and causing the character to fall back into the 
  trap. 
  3 
  
  4 
  .SOOl\RE 13 
  This 
  square has a series of invisible blades attached firmly to the 
  sides of the doorway. 
  Anyone stating that 
  they 
  are 
  •running" out of the corridor, 
  will be 
  sliced and diced into bite sized squares, and will collapse back into the 
  corridor, 
  and just outside the opening. 
  Anyone just walking up to the opening, 
  will 
  easily discover the block, 
  which swings inward, like a door. 
  If they swing it inward, 
  they will hear 
  a click 
  (The second row sliding into place from the ceiling.) 
  The second row of blades is the same as the first, 
  except that they are 
  coated with acid, 04 damage if touched. 
  B 
  The 
  corridor 
  opens up 
  into 
  a 
  green 
  field. 
  freedom. 
  Open 
  sky 
  greets 
  you 
  to 
  Just beyond the opening is a disguised pond. 
  There is a net weave cover 
  with 
  grass. 
  If 
  the 
  characters walk 
  out 
  into the 
  field, 
  they 
  will be 
  wrapped up in the net, which is weighted with rocks. 
  Roll Oex-5 or less on 
  a 020 to struggle free, 
  otherwise •••• drown! 11 
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  SCORE 
  OUTSIDE THE LAIR: 
  A 
  Investigating the fence, but leaving it alone 
  +l 
  Touching the fence 
  -5 
  Touching the Door 
  -7 
  Getting sprung into the Lair 
  -1 
  TORCHES 
  1 
  2 
  3 
  .. 
  5 
  6 
  7 
  8 
  9 
  Messing with more than one 
  Leaping to far side safely 
  Leaving weight on the square 
  Leaving the body and sword alone after entering 
  the square 
  Moving while the GM is counting 
  Triping the pit without falling in 
  Looking for a way to shut off liquid 
  (there isn't one, but if they looked) 
  Tiggering the trap from the safe corner 
  (illo) 
  Leaving boots, or scraping the stuff back down 
  Discovering the quicksand before falling in. 
  -1 each after first 
  +l 
  +l 
  +l 
  +l 
  +l 
  +l 
  +l 
  +l 
  +l 
  DOOR Preventing door from hitting wall 
  +l 
  10 
  Catching the ball before it hits 
  +l 
  using the ball somewhere else in the dungeon 
  +l 
  11 
  Using the hand holds in the ceiling 
  +2 
  Falling in the pit 
  -1 
  Opening the door, and being flooded 
  -1 
  12 
  Jumping over the pit (and thus missing) 
  -1 
  Letting go of the hand holds too soon 
  -1 
  13 
  Opening first invisible blade door 
  +l 
  Opening second blade door 
  +l 
  Not getting burned by acid on second door 
  +l 
  B 
  Falling in the covered pond 
  -2 
  drowning 
  -1 
  Finding pool without anyone falling in 
  +2 
  Roll Playing Bonus 
  (1 to 10 points) 
  If Dexter was in charcter (a womanizer, I'm the greatist 
  type) then indicate 1 to 10 points. 
  If Mainard was a doom and gloomer, add 1 to 10 points. 
  Other Comments: 
  9 
  
  10 
  SCORE 
  OUTSIDE THE LAIR1 
  A 
  Investigating the fence, but leaving it alone 
  +l 
  Touching the fence 
  -5 
  Touching the Door 
  -7 
  Getting sprung into the Lair 
  -1 
  TORCHES 
  1 
  2 
  3 
  .. 
  5 
  6 
  7 
  8 
  9 
  Messing with more than one 
  Leaping to far side safely 
  Leaving weight on the square 
  Leaving the body and sword alone after entering 
  the square 
  Moving while the GM is counting 
  Triping the pit without falling in 
  Looking for a way to shut off liquid 
  (there isn't one, but if they looked) 
  Tiggering the trap from the safe corner 
  Cillo) 
  Leaving boots, 
  or scraping the stuff back down 
  Discovering the quicksand before falling in. 
  -1 each after first 
  +l 
  +l 
  +l 
  +l 
  +l 
  +l 
  +l 
  +l 
  +l 
  DOOR Preventing door from bitting wall 
  +l 
  10 
  Catching the ball before it hits 
  +l 
  using the ball somewhere else in the dungeon 
  +l 
  11 
  Using the hand holds in the ceiling 
  +2 
  Falling in the pit 
  -1 
  Opening the door, and being flooded 
  -1 
  12 
  Jumping over the pit 
  (and thus missing) 
  -1 
  Letting go of the hand holds too soon 
  -1 
  13 
  Opening first invisible blade door 
  +l 
  Opening second blade door 
  +l 
  Not getting burned by acid on second door 
  +l 
  B 
  Palling in the covered pond 
  -2 
  drowning 
  -1 
  Finding pool without anyone falling in 
  +2 
  Roll Playing Bonus (1 to 10 points) 
  If Dexter was in charcter (a womanizer, I'm the greatist 
  type) then indicate 1 to 10 points. 
  If Mainard was a doom and gloomer, add 1 to 10 points. 
  Other Comments: 
  
  / 
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  Real camers and their Memories of Crimtooth 
  By Steve Bean 
  The Vicious, Delicious, Forbidden Horror of Flying Buffalo's "Trap Porn" 
  Early on in my gaming "career" - 1983 or 1984 (making me about 15) - I lucked 
  into used copies of Crimtooth's Traps and Crimtooth's Traps Too. I remember such 
  a mix of reactions as I pored over the pages: 
  The traps were horrible. By which I mean: they horrified me. You know how some­
  times when people describe injuries, those descriptions evoke in you a physical em­
  pathy response, ie they make you cringe? Many of Grimtooth's traps evoked that 
  physical response in me. In particular, the traps where something sharp would cut 
  the victim's legs or feet. The keenness of empathy-response to these types of traps 
  may have come from a traumatic experience I'd had as a child: stepping on a hid­
  den piece of broken glass while 
  playing on a beach. Stair Snare 
  was the worst (see right) - my 
  jaw still clenches when I imagine 
  that PC pulling his leg back out 
  against those downward-angled 
  spikes. Imagine pulling up against 
  the mass of all that full plate armor 
  you're wearing ... 
  In my day, in my gaming group, most of the 
  traps were considered so horrible that we 
  had an unspoken understanding: if a DM 
  chose to put them in a dungeon it was a clear 
  signal that he was gunning for the PCs. I put 
  Between a Rock and a Hard Place into a 
  dungeon, because, well, we'd seen a million 
  pit traps already, but the addition of a 2-ton 
  block that looked from the illustration like 
  it'd exactly fit the pit it drops into just seemed 
  like a ridiculous case of adding both insult­
  and-more-injury-to-injury. I still remember my 
  players trying to decide if they could get the victim out before he suffocated if they 
  cast Transmute Rock to Mud on the fallen stone block. 
  Let's face it: the traps were vicious. "Calling in Grimtooth" was something you did 
  as a DM immediately after you'd grown out of your Monty Haul phase and needed 
  to kill off the ridiculously OP PCs you'd created. If you'd foolishly let your PCs leave 
  White Plume Mountain without throwing Box and Cox at them, or if you'd fudged 
  the technology rolls in Expedition to the Barrier Peaks because you secretly wanted 
  to see the PCs armed to the teeth with ray guns - out came Grimtooth. 
  13 
  
  Grimtooth's traps were also fascinating. Back 
  then I was an aspiring illustrator in what was the 
  era of David Macaulay and I used to pour over 
  Grimtooth with the same intensity that I would 
  investigate the details of Castle, Cathedral or 
  City. The room traps in particular mesmerized 
  me: Where does that block and tackle lead?" 
  "What does that toothed gear do?" 
  But the fascination came equally from the 
  traps' intricacy and their irony. We all know 
  it: the dark humor makes it impossible to look 
  away from Grimtooth, no matter how horrible 
  the trap. That irony is established right in the 
  table of contents with the preview illustration 
  of The Greystoke Memorial captioned "A taste 
  of things to come ... Yeah, that's right - hurts, 
  don't it?" 
  Figure A 
  rhe heroic delwr 
  �������� 
  Grimtooth was, and still is ... "trap porn" - something you felt you should hide from 
  your players - and maybe even your parents - under your bed; something that 
  still, to this day, you feel like you should look away from, but... can't. 
  (Note From SS Crompton: I don't know if I should feel complimented of offended! LOL) 
  How 1 Learned to stop worrying and Love Crimtooth 
  On first meeting Grimtooth I hated him. In the 80s I was very much into a fantasy 
  RPG aesthetic I would call "mythic." I wanted D&D to feel like The Lord of the 
  Rings with its combination of history, majesty and pathos. Grimtooth, in the way 
  he was drawn and the way he was written, was the absolute antithesis of my aes­
  thetic. He was cartoony and irreverent. He was a cross between Marvel Comics' 
  Green Goblin and Wolverine. (He even used the word "Bub.") 
  Honestly, I also hated his traps - the designs of them, I mean. They bugged me. 
  They were ridiculous. They never would have worked. As I pored over the deli­
  cious detail with which they were illustrated, the absurdity of their design offended 
  my standard for internal, fictional logic, even (or maybe especially) in a fantasy 
  RPG: "Who would build that there?" "How would they even build it at all?" and 
  "THAT wouldn't work!" 
  Another question that always came up for me was: "How do the traps reset?" They 
  had to be resetting because the books never talked about adventurers coming 
  upon them already sprung, despite how obviously difficult they'd be to bypass. 
  In particular I wondered about resets in relation to the traps that involved large 
  14 
  
  volumes of ball bearings. There never seemed to be a silo or some other storage 
  unit that might to refill these traps' reservoirs. Even if there was a refill and reset 
  mechanism, wouldn't the PCs at least find a few errant ball bearings in the corners 
  of the dungeon's corridors, evidence of the fate of previous delvers? Was there a 
  guild of gremlins janitors in every dungeon who cleaned up after? 
  I resolved these offenses to my sense internal logic in a way that we've probably 
  all embraced at some point. The answer to the question "How does THAT work?" 
  became: "Magic." These were magical worlds so I decided that fill in ridiculous 
  mechanical design or method of reset happened through magic. This just barely 
  satisfied my demand for internal logic and for a while most of the Grimtooth traps 
  I put in dungeons radiated magic. 
  But, unexpectedly, my acceptance of that flimsy logic was a "trigger plate" to 
  expanding my gaming mindset. It sprung open a metaphorical hidden trap door 
  and underneath, instead of a spiked pit, lay possibility. Accepting the illogical began 
  moving me from a narrow-minded gaming perspective to a more expanded one, 
  one predicated more on inspiration and player experience than on logic. Accep­
  tance of the flimsy logical underpinnings of Grimtooth's traps is one of the things 
  that led me to being far less rigid about the terms on which I would put something 
  in my games and helped me begin to try out all kinds of things I'd previously dis­
  missed as "not cool" or "not mythic and therefore not worthy." 
  Eventually my gaming-acceptability "litmus tests" largely shifted. The answer to the 
  question: "How does that work?!?" went from being "It couldn't" to "magic" to 
  "who cares? - it's effing AWESOME!" And in that way, the secret Grimtooth trap 
  #101 was, for me, a tilting, chute ride to fantasy RPGing that was more imaginative. 
  Memories of Crimtooth's Traps: The "Party Killer" 
  By Bob Brinkman 
  I first encountered the original Grimtooth's Traps in its second printing. My friend 
  John Keehn and I had both run out and bought copies. We eagerly read through 
  them looking for diabolical ways to dispatch our players. Of course, since I played 
  in John's game and John played in mine, nobody was falling for anything. Grant­
  ed, my blatant paranoia certainly helped my chances of survival when we played 
  through the Tomb of Horrors. 
  Even with wary players preventing their use, I 
  bought each volume as it was released, reveling 
  in the diabolic mayhem. So many great ways to 
  maim and kill players. I had my favorite trap, which 
  I called the "party killer." The Delvermatic Dicer 
  and Malingerer Trap certainly painted a picture, 
  but so did the subtlety of Satan's Bow. Trap after 
  trap, book after book, my imagination and creativ­
  ity were stoked to higher levels of fiendishness. 
  15 
  
  Flash forward thirty years and a table of relatively new players. The Circular 
  Doorway presented no mystery to dungeon neophytes, it was obviously some 
  sort of mystical fog. A mystical fog that turned red and made horrid thunka-thunka­
  thunka sounds when someone walked through it. To this day, several of those players 
  are leery of the mention of "chunky salsa". Once I 
  realized that I now had players unfamiliar with the 
  machinations of Grimtooth, things got pretty hairy 
  for the party and they learned to greatly respect 
  the potential for traps. They never again walked 
  through a circular doorway, trapped or no. 
  But they did fall for both the Delvermatic and 
  Satan's Bow. 
  Nostalgia at the cen con Booth 
  By Tim Wadzinski 
  Grimtooth's Traps was one of the first system-agnostic RPG supplements I ever 
  bought, at around age 12. It was the first book I ever saw that used a "funny" 
  disclaimer (which of course is a pretty common tactic these days). The presence 
  of Grimtooth himself as host and guide, and the mix of humor and violence - es­
  pecially in the illustrations - hooked me immediately, as those elements made the 
  book stand out from the official AD&D and D&D materials I was accustomed to 
  using. The funny scrapbook family photos in Grimtooth's Traps Ate! are inspired, 
  too. The "Spy Glass" (Crimtooth's Traps, page 39) is my all-time favorite from his 
  repertoire, due to its simple brutality. I'm personally deathly afraid of things hap­
  pening to my eyes, and merely thinking of this device gives me the heebie-jeebies. 
  Thus, sadly, I could never actually bring myself to use it in a game. 
  More recently, while working the Goodman Games booth at Gen Con 50 and 
  Gary Con X, it was awesome to see fans flipping through the magnificent tome, 
  Crimtooth's Ultimate Traps Collection. I lost count of how many people became 
  wide-eyed and overcome with nostalgic bliss while perusing the book. 
  "Oh man, they're ALL in here?" 
  "I remember this one!" 
  "My DM used this one on us -
  it was BRUTAL!" 
  It was clear to me that many 
  folks have a soft spot in their 
  heart, if not a gaping wound in 
  their PC's chest, for Grimtooth! 
  y 
  16 
  
  FRPG 
  Interview by Steve Crompton 
  Bill Meinhardt provided us with an original copy of Grimtooth' s 
  Lair and has agreed to answer a few questions for us about his 
  amazing fantasy rpg archive. 
  Q: When did you start collecting role playing games? 
  Bill: 
  1977 when my sister brought back the 
  Holmes basic 
  D&D box 
  from GenCon. 
  That would have been my first GenCon, 
  but my Mom said 
  I couldn' t go to the Playboy Club where it was being held. 
  Q: When did that turn from a collection into creating an archive? 
  Bill: 
  In 1987 I made the irrevocable decision to try and get every 
  paper-based FRP item printed in the English language, 
  from Chain­
  mail forward. 
  I ultimately set a terminus date of the end of 2003 
  (although I have many items published after that date as well). 
  Q: 
  How do you define what goes into your archive? 
  Bill: 
  If it is FRP and paper based 
  (so no PDF' s) and in English 
  and was published before 12/31/2003, 
  I want one. 
  Q: With all the frpg material coming out, how do you get all of it? 
  Bill: 
  It was a full time 
  job to keep up with everything, 
  believe 
  me! 
  Fortunately now the number of different items 
  I' m looking for 
  is decreasing, 
  but some new things that I had never heard of pop 
  up occasionally. 
  Q: 
  How much room does your archive take up? 
  Bill: 
  Almost all of the rooms of our house, 
  but a large number of 
  items are along a 10' high, 
  30' 
  long wall in our living room. There 
  are pictures of it on the Acaeum.com website 
  (the premier 1st ed 
  AD&D website) 
  click on "Forums", 
  select "Collecting General", 
  and 
  then do a search for "A Visit to Stratochamp' s collection". 
  Q: 
  How many items do you have in the archive? 
  Bill: 
  Approximately 11,500. 
  Q: 
  Do you remember how you obtained Grimtooth's Lair? 
  Bill: 
  I bought it on ebay about 10 years ago. 
  Q: 
  Do you have a website where people can see your collection? 
  Bill: 
  I do not have a website, 
  I need to start one, 
  but as I men­
  tioned to you, 
  most gamers have no idea that someone had been sys­
  tematically preserving our history, 
  so 
  I' m 
  trying to 
  let people 
  know that I have done this. 
  Q: 
  Can other FRPG historians contact you via e-mail? 
  Bill: 
  They can e-mail me at Stratochampl@gmail.com 
  Q: 
  Any last words you'd like to say? 
  Bill: My collection/museum is an homage to all of the creative people 
  that have worked in the gaming industry and brought joy to millions. 
  I saw their output as culturally significant and deserving of preser­
  vation. 
  It' s my way of saying thank you to all of you folks that have 
  labored over the last 45 years to bring us these great games. 
  � 
  Published by Goodman Games - copyright © 2018 
  
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/1st Edition (ODD, D&D Basic, AD&D)/3rd Party/Grimtooth's Lair [Origins '83] [2018 Reprint].pdf