It seems a lot of people like Power Swords, Force Blades, Energy Sabres, Monomolecular Filament Edged Swords and the like. Well, I guess I am as guilty as anyone else on this account, because a couple of years ago I gave out a Sword that had an edge of Mu Mesons which cut across the magnetic lines of force that bind atoms together. George, the character that received the damn thing, then went on his nonchalant way, wreaking utter havoc wherever he went, on friends as well as foes. One DM after another saw his most cherished Ugly blown away without even a faretheewell! And more than one friend was sliced neatly in two as George's sword lopped off the attacking ugly's arm and his arm/sword continued around its arc right through anyone standing near him! It got to be so that nearly no DM or player in the area wanted to see George headed his way. It was obviously not a good situation, but as it turned out one of my fellow DMs had the answer. George was sent on a terrible quest by his patron god: he must fight his way down thirteen Levels to the very bottom of a dread and feared dungeon. If he survived, he would be enlisted into the ranks of demigods that surround all the more mighty of the gods, and if he failed , well, that would be that. To everyone's surprise, George succeeded and is now among the rank of the demigods. There are also a couple of scrolls that Summon George and the possessors of them are rightly feared by all! George is happy, the DMs are happy, and I think I learned my lesson. Now where'd I put my light saber...?--Dave Hargrave's Welcome to Skull Tower: The Arduin Grimoire vol. II (1978)
A Return to the Stars
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After a veeeeerrrryyyy long, and mostly unplanned, hiatus, Stuart and I got
together to play more Stargrave in recent days. It was good! It was also a
bit ...
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Posts
Can you even find these books anymore?
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted the Arduin collection, ever since I saw them advertised in Dragon Magazine.
On an unrelated note, "Welcome to Skull Tower" would be an awesome name for a gaming blog, or maybe an autobiography of some sort.
Emperor's Choice (http://empcho.bizhosting.com/) sells reprints. Kinda pricy though.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Emperor's Choice seems awful pricey to me, especially for reprints. I got my copies of the first three Grimoires off of the eBay. It took about a year to get all three individually in readable but non-pristine condition, but I only spent about ten bucks apiece.
ReplyDeleteSeems like if you look hard enough on the internet, you can find originals for the price of the reprints, or maybe even less! Of course, I'll still trying to find Arduin II for a decent price. But I got the first one and III: Runes of Doom from nobleknight.com, whom I recommend for fast service and a pretty fine (if not always all that cheap) selection of rare, out of print gaming artifacts. Runes of Doom was only 10 bucks, although that's 'cause it was missing its cover. As a consolation, it was autographed by Arudin inventor Dave Hargrave himself ("To Len, from Dave Hargrave, best of all possible luck!"). Cool. And I also splurged on the $70, 800+ page World Book Of Khaas: Legendary Lands Of Arduin tome that Emperor's Choice released. Not sure yet if that was a good idea... But it is kind of amazing. The index includes such entries as "Eye of the Beholder Bourbon," "Battle Of Foam Horses," "Gibbering Mountains," and "Singing Doom Sea," so I'm pretty into it.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to think about Hargrove. The details of D&D's rules have changed, but the basic way you play the game is the same today as it was 30 years ago. Yet today, most gamers would find such stuff in a published book laughable.
ReplyDeleteI think that's pretty sad.
- Mearls
The basic problem with Arduin is that after his passing, everyone who touches the stuff thinks they have to put their own touch on it, and all they really do is succeed in removing the Hargrove from it.
ReplyDeleteWhat would be needed is an organizer, but leaving the Hargrove feel in; otherwise, just reprint the original books, and keep your hands out.
It's like opening a 1st ed. AD&D DMG today: forget about the mechanics and read the prose -- you can put a lot of faults on Gygax, but when he writes something, it has a specific feel to it. Rip out the mechanics and publish them stand-alone claiming it's Gygax material would be wrong.
First, its David Hargrave, not Hargrove. That stupid point aside, I was impressed by the fact the company chose to go mechanics free. How else could you please a crowd of people devoted to two or three different mechanics systems Hargrave built before he passed on? Would it be in the Compleat Arduin system, the Arduin Adventure mechanics or a real reach back to the Arduin Grimoire?
ReplyDeleteRegardless of whatever path they had taken I'd have bought it just for the world setting. Hargrave always had a certain way of writing, a homesy feel that made his stuff seem outlandish but fun and alive. Unlike a lot of the drivel that divests the rpg world these days.