Over at Dragonsfoot we've been working on a bibliography of all of Tom Moldvay's works. Here's what we've got so far.
Tom (Thomas Edward) Moldvay
b. 1949, Cleveland Ohio
d. 9th April 2007, Akron Ohio
TSR
1980 - 1982
D&D
X1 - Isle of Dread (with David Cook), 1980
X2 - Castle Amber, 1981
Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rules, 1981
B3 - Palace of the Silver Princess (with Jean Wells), 1981
B4 - The Lost City, 1982
M3 - Twilight calling, 1986
B1-9: In Search of Adventure, (contributor), 1987
Listed as a sub-editor for “The Keep on the Borderlands”, 1981
Sub-editor for 1981 edition of Expert D&D (Cook/Marsh)
AD&D
A2 - Secret of the Slavers Stockade (with Harold Johnson), 1981
A1-4: Scourge of the Slave Lords (contributor), 1986
Fiend Folio, Listed as a contributor (Moldvay provided 3 monsters – the Astral Searcher, Protein Ploymorph and Retriever), 1981
Mark of Amber, original design (X2 Castle Amber), 1995
Tournament Modules
"Treasure of the Dragon Queen"
Star Frontiers
SF0 - Crash on Volturnus (with Douglas Niles, Mark Acres), 1982
SF1 - Volturnus, Planet of Mystery (with Mark Acres), 1982
SF2 - Starspawn of Volturnus (with Mark Acres), 1982
Star Frontiers Referee's Screen and Mini-Module (with Mark Acres), 1983
Revolt on Antares Minigame, 1980
Gangbusters
Gangbusters RPG (with Mark Acres and Rick Krebs), 1982
GB1 Trouble Brewing, 1982
Boot Hill
BH1 Mad Mesa (with David Epperson), 1981
BH2 Lost Conquistador Mine (with David Cook), 1982
Boot Hill Referee's Screen & Mini-Module (Shootout in Northfield), 1981
Dragon Magazine Credits
#26, Jun 1979
Giants in the Earth (Cugel the Clever, Kane, Tros of Samothrace), with Lawrence Schick
Dragon's Bestiary: The Barghest
#27, Giants in the Earth, with Lawrence Schick (Durathor, Fafhrd, the Gray Mouser, John Carter), Jul 1979
Short Fiction "Black Lotus Moon" in DragonTales (from Dragon Publishing), Aug 1979
#28, Giants in the Earth, with Lawrence Schick (Eric John Stark, Welleran), Aug 1979
#29, Giants in the Earth, with Lawrence Schick (Shadowjack, Iucounu), Sep 1979
#30, Giants in the Earth, with Lawrence Schick (Sol of All Weapons, Zorayas, Maal Dweb), Oct 1979
#35, Giants in the Earth, with Lawrence Schick (Muirtagh the Bowman, Umslopogaas, Edward Bond, Ganelon), Mar 1980
#37, Giants in the Earth, with Lawrence Schick (designer notes for the series), May 1980
#38, The Seven Magical Planets, Jun 1980
#39, Giants in the Earth (Bodvar Bjarki, Egil Skallagrimson), Jul 1980
#41, Sep 1980
Dragon's Blood: And Another Dragon
Giants in the Earth (Jirel of Joiry, Ayesha, Valeria, Sigurd Fafnirsbane, Starkad),
Dragon's Bestiary: The Silkie
#42, Oct 1980
Giants in the Earth (Tauno Kraken's-bane, Sir Geros Lahvohettos, James Eckert/Gorbash, Orvar-Odd, Heidrek)
Demons, Devils and Spirits
#43, Nov 1980
Brewing up a new NPC: The Witch, by Bill Muhlhausen, revised and edited by Moldvay and Kim Mohan
The 'real' witch: A mixture of fact and fantasy
#44, Giants in the Earth (Reepicheep only), Dec 1980
#46, Feb 1981
Response to Dwarven Paladin question in "Out on a Limb"
Giants in the Earth (submission guidlines)
#48, Giants in the Earth (Tiana Highrider only), Apr 1981
#52, Basic D&D Points of View... From the Editors Old and New (two companion articles, one by J. Eric Holmes, one by Moldvay), Aug 1981
#60, Dragon's Bestiary, Apr 1982
#126, Hearts of Darkness, Oct 1987
#138, The Ungrateful Dead, Oct 1988
#162, Out of the Shadows...., Oct 1990
#166, DINO WARS!, Feb 1991
#198, Beyond the Grave, Oct 1993
#210, Too Evil to Die, Oct 1994
#247, The Taltos, May 1998
Avalon Hill
1982 - 1985
Lords of Creation RPG, 1983
Modules for LoC RPG
Horn of Roland, 1984
Omegakron, 1984 (set in a post-nuclear apocalypse Akron)
The Yeti Sanction, 1985
(Two unpublished adventures - Mines of Voria and The Towers of Illium)
Heroes magazine writing credits
Survival Run of the Starnomads VI.1 pg 15-33
Pirates, Buccaneers & Highwaymen VI.4 pg 9-13
Swordsmen Real and Reeled VI.5 pg 36-39
Alienating Yourself, Part 1 VI.2 pg 7-8+
Alienating Yourself, Part 2 VI.3 pg 8-10
Dueling Rules for LoC VI.3 pg 19-30
Challenges International Inc.
1986
The Challenges Game System by Challenges International Inc, 1986
CH2 Seren Ironhand by Challenges International Inc, 1986
(Two more modules in the Seren Ironhand series proposed but not published - CH1 The Morandir Company, CH3 The Mountain King)
Other
"Tasariq: The Crystal Planet" in Star Wars Adventure Journal #15 , Nov 1997
The Future King, 1985, Self publish/published by Spellbinders?; 1st ed. had 1000 numbered copies, 1 reprint edition
Unpublished fictional novel "Tom of Bedlam"
2 page article, mostly about Lords of Creation, in Lawrence Schick's Heroic Worlds.
Mince Pie Fest 2024: Waitrose No 1
-
These often get picked as the best supermarket mince pies by the gutter
press, so let's see. The pastry has a good texture, firm but also soft, but
is mayb...
Putting on my (somewaht stuffy, sadly) crusader-for-proper-crediting-in-RPGs hat for a moment ;)
ReplyDeleteKrebs and Acres were the only two designers sharing principal credits on Gangbusters. Moldvay's (apparent) role was bringing it up to TSR speed in-house, at least according to the paper credits.
So while it's definitely proper to remember such a crucial contribution (and it's certainly possible or even probable that his contribution was greater than his official credits indicate), the current phrasing of the credit makes him out to be the principal designer with Krebs and Acres as assistants(!)
If that's true (and I'm not saying it isn't - lord knows I've been uncredited and undercredited several times) then the biblio should at least make an explicit note that it's amending his official (published) credit with later (preferably documented) information.
His paper credits on the game are "Additional Design Concepts" and a shared (with 5 others) credit for "Development." Note that this means "Development" in the earlier-industry sense, not in the post-White-Wolf sense (which is to say, it's in the sense that actually makes sense) ;)
And with apologies for the nitpick. Couldn't help myself, not with Gangbusters :)
No need to apologize. I agree that the wording is dodgy.
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteI'm the one compiling the Moldvay list at Dragonsfoot (most of the real work was done by Jeff and various others). I agree with your and I will rewrite the listing for gangbusters. While we're trying to note every work that Tom was involved in, we certainly aren't trying to credit him with other peoples work.
I don't suppose you would have the names of the other three design contributors? and while I'm asking favours, was Tom a contributor on GB1 Trouble Brewing?
Atherton
Hi! Sorry it took so long for me to notice your question ... This is the only "message board" I frequent but I don't check backwards often enough :)
ReplyDeleteThe relevant portion of the Gangbusters 1st Edition credits (the main credits):
Original Concept: Rick Krebs
Original System Design: Rick Krebs
Design: Mark Acres
Additional Design Concepts: Tom Moldvay
Development: Mark Acres, Tom Moldvay, Harold Johnson, Al Hammack, David James Ritchie, David C. Sutherland III
... and then it goes on from there, with other (non-Moldvay) contributions.
I don't have my copy of Trouble Brewing immediately at hand; I'll post about that in a minute when I find it ...
Trouble Brewing is definitely a Tom Moldvay (not as a contributor: it's his baby).
ReplyDeleteVery unusual (very unusual) module, that one. A "scenario" in the true sense of the word, exploring a situation that can be tackled by a variety of characters in any way they see fit. I got a lot of use out of it once upon a time, and it's influenced at least two of my own works. Very experimental structure, that one; good stuff.
Oh, finally: Moldvay also has a secondary credit on Trouble Brewing, a "Development" credit shared with Al Hammack.
ReplyDeleteI checked the other GB modules just in case: no Moldvay on those; they're all Mark Acres.
One more thing I wanted to add to Tom's credits is a book called "Arkhimagos, The Lost Islands of Sorcery". The art and original concept was done by Ken McGregor. Tom was then brought in to write the introduction to the game (13 pages of fiction). It was going to be a play-by-mail game by Spellbinders but didn't take off.
ReplyDeleteI posted this over on Dragonsfoot as well but wasn't sure if you were still checking that.
Mark
Let me straighten some things out. Mark Acres handled the TSR in-house work on "Gangbusters" development from my original design of "Bloody 20's".
ReplyDeleteWhile, I never met Tom his work on "Trouble Brewing" was, like his other designs, First Class. Gaming and Game Design has been diminished with his loss.
Rick Krebs