Languages of Oerthly Magic - Fool's Gold

2.7). Fool's Gold

Amedian - Kamdanganya Dahhabe (Kam-Dan-Gan-Ya Dah-Ha-Be)

Bakluni (Ancient) - Altan Aptal (Al-Tan Ap-Tal)

Drow - Bezzarp Araena (Bez-Zap-Na Ar-An-A)

Dwarven - Narra Gald (Nar-Ra Gald)

Elven - Hajata Kultaa (Ha-Ja-Ta Kul-Ta)

Flan - Amadan Or (Am-Ad-An Or)

Fruz - Bajna Gal (Baj-Na Gal)

Giantish - Tauskan Gold (Ta-Usk-An Gold)

Gnomish - Ver De Gek Gud (Vor De Gek Gud)

Oeridian - Obmanat Zoloto (Ob-Man-At Zo-Lo-To)

Olman - Tanka Mattaekka (Tan-Ka Mat-Ta-Ak-Ka)

Suel -Fatas Aram (Fa-Tas Ar-Am)

Languages of Oerthly Magic - ESP

2.6). ESP

Amedian - Akill Hiza (A-Kil Hiz-A)

Bakluni (Ancient) - Zehnea Anamda (Zeh-Ne An-Am-Da)

Drow - Artelemben Veva (Art-El-Em-Ben Ve-Va)

Dwarven - Senda Menang (Sen-Da Men-Ang)

Elven - Meaelazza Arkeva (Me-Al-Az-Za Ark-Ev-A)

Flan - Keale Agna (Ke-Al Ag-Na)

Fruz - Hagaer Skelnenge (Ha-Gar Skel-Nen-Ge)

Giantish - Gasta Zan (Gas-Ta Zan)

Gnomish - Gesta Zin (Ges-Ta Zin)

Oeridian - Am Zameazla (Am Za-Mez-La)

Olman - Magatal Anarva (Mag-At-Al An-Ar-Va)

Suel - Mentas Zenzu (Men-Tas Zen-Zu)

J. Eric Holmes Warriors For Hire From AlarumsandExcursions #11

J. Eric Holmes Warriors For Hire From Alarums&Excursions #11

Warriors-for-Hire

You have outfitted your expedition for the dungeons of Greyhead Tower, but as you wander down the town streets toward the tavern where you are to meet your companions-in-arms, your mind is troubled. There's no denying it, the expedition is unbalanced. There's an elf, a husky dwarf and a hobbit, two first level magic-users, a couple of useless young clerics from the nearby monastery who need to go up a level before they can even heal wounds, and a ubiquitous thief or two. The group needs brawn. Greyhead Tower is no easy challenge for a bunch of first levelers, you'd feel a lot safer with a few fighting men along. Advertising is also chancy and may net you nothing for your trouble.

The banner in front of a building across the street catches your eye. "Expeditions Unlimited: Hire a Warrior!" Oh, well. You've got nothing to lose, you cross the dirt road and enter the store front. The place looks like, and is, an armory, with odd bits of mail and weaponry lying about waiting to be repaired. Out back is an open yard, flooded with sunshine. You can hear shouts, laughter and the clang of steel on steel.

"Some of my boys training," says the big heavy set fellow behind the counter. He has a patch over one eye and is missing several fingers of his left hand. He smiles heartily. "Ajax's my name. May I help you sir? Looking for husky fighting men for a dangerous and secretive mission perhaps? All my lads are guaranteed lawful and 15 plus strong. I don't take 'em if they're weak. Tryouts for the locals and the hopefuls every month. Them as can't bend and iron bar, lift 500 pounds and slam a sword blade through a three inch oak plank I sends away. 'Keep in training and try again, I tells 'em' The others I train myself -- weaponry, hand to hand, monster slaying and the like -- veteran of the dungeons myself, I am."

"Terms? Simple, sir, simple. Full shares in any treasure, 'stead of your usual hireling half shares. Convenience to you, saves time, and the company guarantees each of out lads. Well trained, first levelers, each one, full equipped. Chain mail, helmet, shield, sword. The wide bladed falchion is popular hereabouts. What do you say, sir?"

How can you lose on a deal like that? In practice, what I do is roll 3 six sided dice until I get a 15 or better. These are Ajax's tryouts -- those who don't measure up are turned away. Once a strength 15 to 18 is rolled, then I roll the rest of the character's traits in the usual way, adjusting his strength if possible. Ajax usually has a stable of six trained fighters. Originally they were all from the local area, youths seeking fortune and adventure. Recently there has been an influx of Viking barbarians, big blonde fighters from the north. Casualties run high, rarely does a fighter reach second level, since he accumulates experience points at half rate.

Ajax pushes his battered face close to yours. His breath smells of cheap wine. "How about it, sir? a couple of husky stout hearted lads, now? Just the thing to beef up your group." Give it a try.

Comment from A&E#12 By Lee Gold

Holmes -- Your terms are somewhat stingy. The Fighters are presumably still getting half a share (and turning the other half over to the entrepreneur running the rental agency). My hirelings normally ask for a full share in the treasure plus their pick of the magic or an extra half-share in the treasure if no suitable magic turns up. They usually get it too.

Comment from A&E#12 By Wesley D. Ives

Warrior For Hire (Eric Holmes): That's the way I always imagine the Slayer's Guild to operate. Wouldn't there be some sort of payment to be made to the guild if a hired fighter was not returned in one living piece -- insurance, sort of?

Comment from A&E#12 By Margaret Gemignani

Eric Holmes, good material and funny.

Comment from A&E#12 By Mark Swanson

ERIC HOLMES - You seem to have forgotten Ajax's cut.

Comment from A&E#12 By Jason Ray

Eric Holmes :Normal shares PLUS 500 gp a man. Warriors are not that easy to come by, 'specially ones with 15+ strength.

Comment from A&E#13 By Samuel Edward Konkin III

Eric Holmes Good idea. Already incorporated. In fact, you can hire a whole mercenary if you got the gold in TS.

Comment from A&E#13 By Dick Eney

Eric Holmes: Why does everyone thing First Level Clerics are useless? (Including the Clerics themselves, pretty often.) They can swing a flail or mace and sling alongside the best First Level fighters, and in addition they can turn occasional Undead. I suppose that if your Dungeon limits them to leather -- as I hear some do -- then they need as much protection as am M-U, but otherwise... you ought to meet Lucy Clems daughter and her war hammer Borisbane some day.

Languages of Oerthly Magic - Detect Invisibility

2.5). Detect Invisibility

Amedian - Kakangaza Waza (Ka-Kan-Ga-Za Wa-Za)

Bakluni (Ancient) - Nat Algealamaek (Nat Al-Ge-La-Mak)

Drow - Egartalma Kemaetazaer (Eg-Ar-Tal-Ma Kem-At-Az-Ar)

Dwarven - Opdaega Klar (Op-Da-Ga Klar)

Elven - Havaeta Zelkeata (Hav-A-Ta Zel-Ke-Ta)

Flan - Baraeth Zolar (Bar-Ath Zol-Ar)

Fruz - Graena Skart (Gra-Na Skart)

Giantish - Klar Arkanan (Klar Ark-An-An)

Gnomish - Detekaren Endadelaejka (De-Tek-Ar-En Da-De-Laj-Ka)

Oeridian - Obnanazphet Azna (Ob-Nan-Azp-Het Az-Na)

Olman - Telvaeka Kantara (Tel-Va-Ka Kan-Tar-A)

Suel - Depraehendar Patat (De-Pra-Hen-Dar Pat-At)

Gygax's Letter in Alarums and Excursions #15

Gygax's Letter in Alarums & Excursions #15

Dear Lee,

Hereafter you will find comments regarding A&E 14 done in the order in which the material they pertain to appears in the zine. This is bound to cause a rather disjointed missive for which I beg your kind indulgence in advance.

Your stand regarding future publication of variant material is most appreciated, for we do not particularly feel happy to see some rehash of our copyrighted material. With regard to commercial sale of material pertaining to D&D, I can state that TSR is absolutely opposed to the practice in those cases where there is infringement upon our copyright. In the case of your supplemental material, I cannot say but will certainly tend to look more favorably on an enterprise of yours you have been most careful and conscientious regarding the rights of TSR. Please let us take a loot at the material if you wish to go ahead.

Rick Schwall played in "Greyhawk Castle" once or twice, but he either was with a very small group -- I do not recall -- or his memory is not good. Rob and I do not bother to place adventurers on any sort of graph if the group is three or less. All placement is easily kept track of with so few players involved in combat. When more than three persons are in a party, we always require that they align themselves in a march order, the leader be in the front rank, and changes in marching order be noted. The party keeps one copy of this, and they must furnish us with a duplicate. When combat takes place we sometimes use miniatures, otherwise paper and pencil, to record positions, actions, hits given and hits scored. My favorite grid for character positions in combat is a large sheet of staggered squares covered with acetate. Colored china markers are used to show positions, moved, etc. When running large groups through a tournament scenario, such nice touches must be done away with in the interest of time.

Lee, no matter how carefully something is written, and I am not thereby claiming D&D was written with a view towards deletion of ambiguities, there will always be some person at work to twist the content to their own ends. A classic case is the Avalon Hill game STALINGRAD, which stated the German player could place up to 8 factors of German units in Finland. As the rules did not mention Rumanian units, some of these clever fellows put them into Finland too! I take exception to the statement that I am not able to write very clearly. Correctly put forth in a form asserting that D&D was not written without loopholes or carefully would be quite acceptable. When I treat historical subjects, rules are written in a far different manner. Specifically to the point, magic-users are not allowed to wear any form of armor or use any form of weapon other than daggers. We have amended our treatment to allow them to use staves as weapons as well. Characters able to operate in two or more classes at once do not fall under the injunction against armor and weapons. Thieves can use nothing better than leather armor, and they may never use a shield. They may use only daggers and/or swords, magical or not. I would allow them to use a garrot or sling in some cases. Likewise, I would allow the use of a fine chainmail short of magical nature. The point is that the DM should make such decisions. (Ooops, I just blamed you for something evidently written by Glenn Blacow... Sorry!)

Glenn has quite a few novel concepts. Evidently he believes a dungeon should be rather like a fun house, with a monster behind every door and so much magic available you can't keep track of the enchanted swords without a scorecard. Anyway, I personally dislike refereeing for expeditions above six persons, but demand usually force me to take more. The largest party we ever took into "Greyhawk Castle" was 16 --- and four actually survived to tell of it. And that without 75% occupancy and no more than a half-dozen traps on a typical level. In any event, from your statements, Glenn, I do believe you could handle play in my dungeon -- or even Arneson's -- and do well, but how can the clean-up crew be considered "helpless"? An encounter with an ochre jelly dropping from the ceiling can be rather devastating.

Rumors concerning the way we play D&D seem to be flying about all sorts of places, and unfortunately most of these bits of information are only partially correct at best. Dan Plerson says that we are rumored to play competitive D&D with group against group. It so happens that when we get the campaign into high gear, there is considerable competition between three or four factions, and they find it enjoyable to attack each other when the opportunity arise -- and they do play to make such opportunities. As a DM I find this quite suitable. It does not occur frequently. It almost never happens during dungeon expeditions. Here is how we have things set up:

The game world is a parallel earth, but the continents are somewhat different. Most of our campaign activity takes place on what corresponds to North America, on the eastern half of the continent. The "Blackmoor" lands lie far up on the northeast coast. "Greyhawk" is in the central portion. There are a few other independently run campaigns located on this map. There are also some other dungeons related to the "Greyhawk" campaign located at some distance from the free city of Greyhawk. Players in our campaign may freely play in "Blackmoor", but to get there they must adventure cross country. With one or two other campaigns, we do not allow any cross-campaign play other than this, for these is too great a disparity of DMing. The territory within 500 or so miles of our main dungeon is mapped out at 5 miles to the hex. Territory within 50 miles of Greyhawk city is mapped more closely, and monster locations are indicated. The entire world is mapped out in rough form, with notes regarding typical encounters in given areas as well as particular special places, for hardy souls who wish to go forth to seek their fortunes.

Charlie Luco is quite correct. Kuntz and Ward should have known better than to fly in the face of an already published monster, and the Rakshasa business is now too late to correct. The whole of GODS' needs correcting due to the mis-stripping done at the printer. When we do this, we will probably enlarge the format to 8 1/2 x 11, add a lot more material and make necessary corrections at the same time. Rakshasas will stay as they are in SR, and the indian demons will be properly indicated to be something else altogether.

Mr. Konkin's ethos is rather strange in equating good with law and chaos with evil, but becoming embroiled in a philosophical discussion is the last thing in the world I need, so let's skip it.

I do not believe that Wayne Shaw has ever played in an actual "Greyhawk" expedition, although he may have been involved in a tournament game sponsored by TSR which I had a hand in devising. From his comments, I am forced to suppose that the good man does not care to think, and his answer to problem solving is to kill. At least he got the wrong impression. I invite him to set up an appointment to have a go at the real thing, and let us see if he "naturally" slays the creatures he encounters. I lose all patience with sophomoric players of this sort; they belong in a Monty Hall dungeon.

It seems that Dungeons & Beavers players are getting paranoid. We did not design GODS' simply to shame them or whatever. The supplement was written to conform to the major type of play going on in the country. If the beings therein do not fit into their particular manner of play, it is easy enough to ignore the whole work -- or add a zero to the hit points each can take. Yes, fellows, I find 20th level to be absolutely incredible, for you won't get it in the games hereabouts -- or in most other places which I hear in talking with DMs. It makes good players angry to hear about umpteenth level characters when they have had to play two actual years, carefully and intelligently, to rise to tenth level or so.

A good example is the Origins I dungeon -- incidentally drawn from a similar tomb designed by Alac Lucion. Very few of the players who engaged in the tournament were able to think out the problems. In a test run, Rob Kuntz, in his game persona as a 13th level (evil) lord went through the entire tomb in four hours actual time. He took 14 orcs and a couple of low-level flunkies with him. He lost all the party, but his character personally looted the lich's tomb and escaped with the goodies. Rosenberg is wrong, for there were a number of ways to get out the place, although only two to get out with anything except your skin. I hope that in the future I will be able to have more individuals try "Greyhawk Castle." It's not as tough as "Blackmoor," but I think it might give some few an enjoyable time.

Thanks for sending A&E along! I hear you missed GenCon West I, but I hope that you'll make II and I'll see you there. Arneson went to this year's event, and it is my turn to go in '77

Best regards,

E. Gary Gygax

NOTE: I will be adding the comments from A&E #14 that Gygax is responding to, probably within the next few days.

Gygax's Letter from Alarums and Excursions #8

Alarums & Excursions #8 A Letter From E. Gary Gygax

There was an interesting comment in the October ish which I cannot allow to pass unchallenged. This veritable pearl of wisdom dropped from the learned lips of one "Barry." [Well, not really. It actually occurs in PERCEPTION 2, pages one and two written by Dick Eney. It is addressed to Barry who had condemned "xeroxing D&D rules instead of paying for them" in an earlier issue. Future allusions to "Barry" will be changed to "Eney" by the typist. -- LG.]

Now in all fairness, I must preface my remarks with the admission that I once said something very like what this good fellow did with regard to "pirating" of miniature figures. Jack Scruby wrote a rebuttal which made me look a tad foolish and set the matter straight. So now the shoe is really on the other foot and it pinches a trifle.

Leaving aside the question of legality -- and it is illegal to copy works held under copyright, of course -- I must set you all straight about costs. The production of a game or rules set entails very many expenses beyond the base printing cost, and I must say that the printing cost of D&D runs quite a bit above the six bits that Eney mistakenly asserts is the cost. (If, in fact, he can have the three booklets printed, the separate charts also done, and assembled, the box made and wrapped, and the whole put together and shrink-wrapped for that price, he should contact me immediately and let me know the name of the printer!) However initial printing cost is not the only consideration. First, a substantial sum of money must be raised in order to pay for from 3,000 to 5,000 copies of the print run, and a place to house all these sets must be found. Then material to handle orders, wrap them and ship them must be arranged for, as well as someone to do the actual work. Records must be kept. Taxes must be paid. Royalties must be reported and paid to authors and artists. Salaries must be paid. Overhead must be paid. And there is always the good old discount! We offer them, hobby stores get them (and most folks would rather go and pick their materials up immediately than wait for a mail order), and distributors get very substantial ones. They're all necessary and beneficial -- except that in some cases the authors make more money on a run than TSR does! That's fine as long as the overhead and fixed expenses get taken care of, but it doesn't consider what is to be done for new productions.

As A&E has not hesitated to point out, TSR deserves to gain some profit for its venture. Frankly, we do not think anybody else would have been willing to hazard what we did in pioneering the fantasy game field. In this same vein, we have many other new designs which we wish to publish, but each entails a considerable amount of time, effort and capital. TSR employees all receive minimal wages in order that the firm will have enough excess to produce new material. To correct the learned Eney, D&D, GREYHAWK, CHAINMAIL et al., most certainly are bread and butter to five or six TSR employees (including myself, my wife and our five children). They are also the bread and butter of those who look forward to new material from TSR.

This whole matter irritates me more than a little when I think of the time and effort I have put into it for the past few years, the work all of the TSR people have put in with an average remuneration of something less than two dollars per hour, while some nit babbles about matters he has absolutely no conception of! (As I was careful to preface this whole thing with the admission that I once did the same with regard to the costs of miniature figures, I trust no personal offense will be taken.)

Again, Eney seemingly shells out a buck for A&E without qualm or complaint because it contains something he enjoys greatly. Doesn't D&D deserve the same regard? I think so. It is illegal to copy D&D. It is unethical. And in the final analysis, it might mean real loss to great numbers of people. That isn't to say that there is the least objection to copying parts of the books for your own use or for that matter if some individual is too damn poor to afford the cost of his own copy of D&D, it is better he get a Xerox than not be able to play. But how many copies are simply made so as to profit the fellow illegally duplicating his D&D? Or how many are made in order to save the money, so as to use it for some other form of entertainment? It all boils down to the question about whether or not the laborer is worthy of his hire. Evidently Eney does not think so. I appreciate A&E's stand with regard to this matter and letter is written primarily to vindicate it, for I doubt it will turn those with a dishonest bent from whatever course they choose.


From Alarums & Excursions #1 by Barry Gold

Lee and I, as publishers of Alarums and Excursions, recommend that you buy the rules to Dungeons and Dragons if you don't already have them. Xeroxing somebody else's copy is unethical and illegal too. If you are going to get involved enough in the game to build your dungeon, you should at least spring for $10 for the rule books. If you aren't making your own dungeons, you don't really need the books - some other player can tell you how to make and play a character. So there is no excuse for making a bootleg copy and depriving Gary Gygax, the game's inventor, of his fair share.

The latest prices we have are D&D $10, Chainmail $5, Greyhawk $5, dice $2.50 per set --- one each D4, D6, D8, D12, D20. Chainmail is the predecessor of D&D and is useful for resolving missile fire in melee. Greyhawk is the first supplement, with new spells, monsters and treasure.


From Alarums & Excursions #5 October 1975 Depth Perception 2 By Dick Eney

BARRY: There are mutterings of Discontent over your comment anent(Sp?) depriving Gygax of his fair share by xeroxing Dungeons and Dragons and, by extension, Greyhawk and Chainmail. as I believe that I (hem hem) am unlikely to be tagged as one of the irresponsible hippie types trying to tear down the fabric of our Free Enterprise system, maybe I'd be the right one to state them.

Firstest, let us Define Our Terms. D&D, Greyhawk, and Chainmail are fanzines (and there are more than a few Fanzines with better artwork and proofreading). That is, they are something that is published in connection with Gygax's hobby and for fellow hobbyists; they are not his bread and butter and so we don't have to make a baseline calculation of what brings him in a decent annual salary, as we would with a fulltime professional. On the other hand, we do have to him justice and make sure that a work which has brought us so much pleasure doesn't wind up costing him something out of pocket. All X so far?

Now let's make a cost guestimate. Volume I is 36 pages and a heavy cover, II is 40 pages and a heavy cover, and III is 36 pages and a heavy cover. Pages are four to a quarto sheet, so there are 18 standard-size sheets and three heavy covers. Let's assume something I don't really believe for a moment: that he hadn't the information to shop around for a price break or quantity discount, and paid the prices for commercial instant-print lithography, i.e. got badly ripped off. Nevertheless, even paying premium rates like that, 1000 sets of D&D -- that is, of all three booklets together -- should have cost him about $733.80. If he printed 2000 at once it would have been nearer $1268.80 (or $624.40 per thousand). Greyhawk, similarly, should have stood him $341.20 per thousand; if he got 2000, then $583.00 total (or $291.50 per thousand). Any of you can check this with your friendly neighborhood instant-print lithographer, so I won't bother with the calculations here. I did run it past George Scithers, who gets similar-size print runs for AMRA; he gets distinctly better prices for the whole operation including commercial stapling, even though AMRA uses odd-size special-order paper, runs half-tines, and is far superior in quality of repro to D&D.

Personally, I paid the full list price for Dungeons and Dragons and Greyhawk both, just as I did for other stuff like Warriors of Mars and intend to do for War of Wizards and Empire of the Petal throne and probably more. Presumably many of the rest of us did or would do the same, as a point of honor. But when somebody charges me $10 for an item that should have cost him less than 75c, that's a markup of well over a thousand percent (unless I punched the wrong buttons, it comes to 1264% for D&D and 1366% for Greyhawk. all in all, I am not about to dump on Xerox fandom on the grounds that Gygax is being screwed every time that green light flashes.

NOTE: Comment by Sherna Burley From Alarums&Excursions #7

Dick Eney: I find your calculation of Gary Gygax's profit frightening. You have overlooked a couple of factors, though. First, the box probably costs quite a bit (no; about 15c retail -- R.E. [Dick Eney]), and its label costs something too. Second, and more important, I bought my copy from a friend, a (fan) dealer, who was able to give me a discount. This means that, whatever Gygax gets for this set, it is not always the full $10. When there are all those overhead costs, including postage on his mail orders...

As a (partial) beneficiary of Xerox, I am glad to think, however, that he does make quite a bit more profit than seems reasonable, even if not the 1264% you calculated. (Let it be noted that I bought D&D and GREYHAWK, and would not have had the money to buy a new set to replace my lost V.I of D&D.) [I've never seen any offer of single volumes; does anyone know if they are replaceable other than by this sort of bootlegging? -- R.E. aka Dick Eney]

Languages of Oerthly Magic - Detect Evil

2.4). Detect Evil

Amedian - Kakhaengaza Mava (Kak-Han-Ga-Za Ma-Va)

Bakluni (Ancient) - Kota Algalamak (Ko-Ta Al-Ga-La-Mak)

Drow - Arzakelna Gaenaz (Arz-Ak-El-Na Ga-Naz)

Dwarven - Apdaega Daet Anda (Ap-Da-Ga Dat An-Da)

Elven - Havaeta Paha (Hav-At-A Pa-Ha)

Flan - Brata Alk (Bra-Ta Alk)

Fruz - Graena Alt (Gra-Na Alt)

Giantish - Baz Arkanan (Baz Ark-An-Nan)

Gnomish - Datekaran Kad (Da-Tek-Ar-An Kad)

Oeridian - Obnanazhet Zal (Ob-Na-Naz-Het Zal)

Olman - Tay Kantara (Tay Kan-Tar-A)

Suel - Depraehendar Malam (Dep-Ra-Hen-Dar Mal-Am)

Regional Products of the Flanaess - Cloth and Fur

Blue = Fur
Red = Cloth

As can be seen the origional resource map shows a strong interconnection between areas exporting fur (almost all the northern realms with the exception of Blackmoor and the Snow Barbarians. The same is reasonably true regarding cloth production and export.

Fur in this case can be guessed at as referring to heavy winter furs rather than the inclusion of pelts, skins or hides.

Cloth production and especially exportation seems much more questionable. It is so widespread that it makes me wonder who is buying the exports?

Languages of Oerthly Magic - Darkness 15' Radius

2.3). Darkness 15' Radius

Amedian - Gaza Madara (Ga-Za Ma-Dar-Ra)

Bakluni (Ancient) - Karaenlake Dara (Kar-An-Lak Da-Ra)

Drow - Sateatsag Kar (Sat-Et-Sag Kar)

Dwarven - Marka Zarkal (Mar-Ka Zar-Kal)

Elven - Pamaez Ampaera (Pam-Ez Am-Pa-Ra)

Flan - Zorkal Dakadas (Zor-Kal Dar-Ka-Das)

Fruz - Markar Harang (Mar-Kar Har-Ang)

Giantish - Danalkaet Kraz (Dan-Al-Ket Kraz)

Gnomish - Daztarnaz Zarkal (Daz-Tar-Naz Zar-Kal)

Oeridian - Temnata Kraegam (Tem-Na-Ta Krag-Am)

Olman - Aer Vattam (Ar Vat-Tam)

Suel - Tanabraz Zerkel (Tan-Ab-Raz Zer-Kel)

Alarums and Excursions Mini-Review From Strategic Review #6 Feb 1976

Alarums and Excursions Mini-Review From Strategic Review #6 Feb 1976

Alarums & Excursions is a group project collated and edited by Lee Gold... The rates vary from issue to issue, so get them from Lee. It consists of contributions from numerous people, and deals solely with D&D. It is an excellent source of ideas, inspirations and fun. It provides a forum for debate and controversy (some of it is to be taken with a grain of salt, as one or two debates are woefully lacking in background on the topics. For some time now it has seen discussions of printing costs from people that are either ignorant concerning the topic, or incredibly naive). Printing in a single issue can range from terrible to very good. For all of its faults, it is far and away the best D&D 'zine, and well worth reading. See for yourself why it rates a MAJOR TRIUMPH.

NOTE: The comments regarding printing costs appear to be in response to a comment which first appeared in Alarums & Excursions #5 in the portion labeled Depth Perception 2 by Dick Eney. He writes in response Barry (Barry Gold, I believe, and this mention regarding xeroxing the D&D rules written in Alarums & Excursions #1)

From Alarums & Excursions #1 by Barry Gold

Lee and I, as publishers of Alarums and Excursions, recommend that you buy the rules to Dungeons and Dragons if you don't already have them. Xeroxing somebody else's copy is unethical and illegal too. If you are going to get involved enough in the game to build your dungeon, you should at least spring for $10 for the rule books. If you aren't making your own dungeons, you don't really need the books - some other player can tell you how to make and play a character. So there is no excuse for making a bootleg copy and depriving Gary Gygax, the game's inventor, of his fair share.

The latest prices we have are D&D $10, Chainmail $5, Greyhawk $5, dice $2.50 per set --- one each D4, D6, D8, D12, D20. Chainmail is the predecessor of D&D and is useful for resolving missile fire in melee. Greyhawk is the first supplement, with new spells, monsters and treasure.

From Alarums & Excursions #5 October 1975 Depth Perception 2 By Dick Eney

BARRY: There are mutterings of Discontent over your comment anent(Sp?) depriving Gygax of his fair share by xeroxing Dungeons and Dragons and, by extension, Greyhawk and Chainmail. as I believe that I (hem hem) am unlikely to be tagged as one of the irresponsible hippie types trying to tear down the fabric of our Free Enterprise system, maybe I'd be the right one to state them.

Firstest, let us Define Our Terms. D&D, Greyhawk, and Chainmail are fanzines (and there are more than a few Fanzines with better artwork and proofreading). That is, they are something that is published in connection with Gygax's hobby and for fellow hobbyists; they are not his bread and butter and so we don't have to make a baseline calculation of what brings him in a decent annual salary, as we would with a fulltime professional. On the other hand, we do have to him justice and make sure that a work which has brought us so much pleasure doesn't wind up costing him something out of pocket. All X so far?

Now let's make a cost guestimate. Volume I is 36 pages and a heavy cover, II is 40 pages and a heavy cover, and III is 36 pages and a heavy cover. Pages are four to a quarto sheet, so there are 18 standard-size sheets and three heavy covers. Let's assume something I don't really believe for a moment: that he hadn't the information to shop around for a price break or quantity discount, and paid the prices for commercial instant-print lithography, i.e. got badly ripped off. Nevertheless, even paying premium rates like that, 1000 sets of D&D -- that is, of all three booklets together -- should have cost him about $733.80. If he printed 2000 at once it would have been nearer $1268.80 (or $624.40 per thousand). Greyhawk, similarly, should have stood him $341.20 per thousand; if he got 2000, then $583.00 total (or $291.50 per thousand). Any of you can check this with your friendly neighborhood instant-print lithographer, so I won't bother with the calculations here. I did run it past George Scithers, who gets similar-size print runs for AMRA; he gets distinctly better prices for the whole operation including commercial stapling, even though AMRA uses odd-size special-order paper, runs half-tines, and is far superior in quality of repro to D&D.

Personally, I paid the full list price for Dungeons and Dragons and Greyhawk both, just as I did for other stuff like Warriors of Mars and intend to do for War of Wizards and Empire of the Petal throne and probably more. Presumably many of the rest of us did or would do the same, as a point of honor. But when somebody charges me $10 for an item that should have cost him less than 75c, that's a markup of well over a thousand percent (unless I punched the wrong buttons, it comes to 1264% for D&D and 1366% for Greyhawk. all in all, I am not about to dump on Xerox fandom on the grounds that Gygax is being screwed every time that green light flashes.

NOTE: Comment by Sherna Burley From Alarums&Excursions #7

Dick Eney: I find your calculation of Gary Gygax's profit frightening. You have overlooked a couple of factors, though. First, the box probably costs quite a bit (no; about 15c retail -- R.E. [Dick Eney]), and its label costs something too. Second, and more important, I bought my copy from a friend, a (fan) dealer, who was able to give me a discount. This means that, whatever Gygax gets for this set, it is not always the full $10. When there are all those overhead costs, including postage on his mail orders...

As a (partial) beneficiary of Xerox, I am glad to think, however, that he does make quite a bit more profit than seems reasonable, even if not the 1264% you calculated. (Let it be noted that I bought D&D and GREYHAWK, and would not have had the money to buy a new set to replace my lost V.I of D&D.) [I've never seen any offer of single volumes; does anyone know if they are replaceable other than by this sort of bootlegging? -- R.E. aka Dick Eney]

Languages of Oerthly Magic - Continual Light

2.2). Continual Light

Amedian - Melelel Mawanga (Me-Le-Le Ma-Wan-Ga)

Bakluni (Ancient) - Zonzuza Kaedar Ezek (Zon-Zu-Za Ka-Dar Ez-Ek)

Drow - Orokaer Fenae (Or-Ok-Ar Fen-A)

Dwarven - Evaegaet Laez (Ev-Ag-At Laz)

Elven - Ekazaezta Vala (Ek-Az-Ez-Ta Va-La)

Flan - Gae Dae Eadram (Ga Da Ed-Ram)

Fruz - A Elaef Laez (A El-Af Laz)

Giantish - Lak Far Emmar (Lak Far Em-Mar)

Gnomish - Var Evaeg Laeket (Var Ev-Ag Lak-Et)

Oeridian - Navzegad Zet (Nav-Ze-Gad Zet)

Olman - Eppotetam Al (Ep-Po-Tam Al)

Suel - Aternnam Laman (At-Ern-Nam La-Man)

Reference List of Various Fanzines from 1970's

Here is a list of references to various fanzines

A&E = Alarums&Excursions
DRG = Dragon Magazine
SR = The Strategic Review

Abyss (DRG#50)
Alarums & Excursions (SR4)(DRG#50)
The American Wargamer (A&E11)
APA-DUD/Pandemonium (DRG#50)
APA-L (A&E1)
APA-NESFA (A&E9)
Apprentice (DRG#22)(DRG#3)
AZAPA (A&E8)
Battle Report (SR3)
The Beholder (DRG#50)
Conquest (Divine Right PBM)(DRG#35)
The Cosmic Balance (A&E11)
Dankendismal (SR6)
Europa (A&E11)
The Fantorgn Scrolls (A&E12)
Fire the Arquebusiers! (SR6)
Great Plains Game Players Newsletter/Gamelog (SR4)(DRG#33)
Kranor-Rill (SR4)
Liaisons Dangeruses (SR4)
The Lords of Chaos (DRG#50)
Morningstar (DRG#50)
News From Bree (A&E11)
Owl & Weasel (SR6)
Phoenix (DRG#22)
Quick Quincy Gazette (DRG#50)
Ryth Chronicle (A&E11)(SR6)
Spartan (A&E5)
The Stormlord (DRG#50)
Trollcrusher (DRG#50)
The Wild Hunt (A&E9)(DRG#50)
WSFA Journal (SR4)
Zepplin (DRG#50)

Languages of Oerthly Magic - Audible Glamer

2.1). Audible Glamer

Amedian - Zata Karaem (Za-Ta Ka-Ram)

Bakluni (Ancient) - Zez Kazaebze (Zez Kaz-Ab-Ze)

Drow - Ang Varazza (Ang Var-Az-Za)

Dwarven - Lid Kaeramae (Lid Ka-Ra-Ma)

Elven - Ana Kaeram (Ana Ka-Ram)

Flan - Kaeram Faema (Ka-Ram Fa-Ma)

Fruz - Ho Haella (Ho Ha-El-La)

Giantish - Zoand Karam (Zow-And Kar-Am)

Gnomish - Galaed Karaem (Gal-Ad Kar-Am)

Oeridian - Zak Okaravaen (Zak Ok-Ar-Av-An)

Olman - Ol Olaekka (Ol Ol-Ak-Ka)

Suel - Zonus Laepar (Zon-Us La-Par)

Gygax's letter from AlarumsandExcursions #2

Here is the text of a letter by Gary Gygax published in the fanzine Alarums and Excursions issue #2 from July 1975. There are a few comments regarding the original Greyhawk campaign, but it is mostly about the philosophy, at that time, about the D&D game system.

NOTE: As I read through A&E#1 I keep finding comments which Gygax responded to in his letter in issue #2. I wish I'd noted them all at once, but I actually read issue #2 and jumped the gun at transcribing the letter and posting it before going through issue #1. I will keep updating this post the issue #1 to provide context. On reading later issues of the Strategic Review I have found that issue #1 of A&E seemed to have a profound influence on how Gygax developed the game, especially the magic system. I plan on reprinting those articles since they seem to be part of the same conversation and an important part of the history of D&D.


Dear Lee;

Hello! and our thanks for the two copies of A&E. Brian Blume takes care of SR, and he immediately made off with one copy of your zine, so you can rest assured of the trade arrangement.

It certainly is a good feeling to have so many persons enjoying something one had a hand in creating. I have been a sf and fantasy fan since age 12, a wargame enthusiast since age 10 and began designing and writing about 1965. The games and rules are fairly successful these days, but I have yet to sell a sf or fantasy story, and that will be my next real project -- in a year or so when I have time to rewrite my favorite fantasy novel in hopes of something more than the usual rejection slips.

In case you don't know the history of D&D, it all began with the fantasy rules in CHAINMAIL. Dave A. took those rules and changed them into a prototype of what is now D&D. When I played in his "Blackmoor" campaign I fell in love with the new concept and expanded and changed his 20 or so pages of hand-written "rules" into about 100 ms. pages. Dave's group and ours here in Lake Geneva then began eager and enthusiastic play-testing, and the result was the D&D game in January of 1974. It is an ongoing game, as the GREYHAWK booklet shows, and when Dave hands me the ms. for BLACKMOOR I am sure that there will be more alternatives yet. I have personally worked out enough material lately to do still another supplement, and the heaps of material sent in by fans would certainly fill another -- besides providing a good bit of material for publication in SR. So as long as players desire, TSR will continue to provide more D&D goodies (although my partners bemoan the fact that this tends to deprive the historical end of out operation.)

If you have seen WAR OF THE WIZARDS, you are aware of how imaginative and creative a man Professor M.A.R. Barker is. We have arranged, finally, to publish his masterwork, EMPIRE OF THE PETAL THRONE. Professor Barker has been at work on his fantasy world creation for something like 40 years! It shows in his work. I hardly know where to begin in describing EPT. First, I must liken the whole of the Professor's work to JRRT's (and I understand that Professor Barker has a novel which he hopes to complete soon!). The whole of the game EMPIRE OF THE PETAL THRONE is perfectly thought-out and logically structured. Its form was influenced by D&D (and I am greatly flattered about that) although its author had been testing various other forms prior to the publication of D&D.

I will not describe the world of 'PETAL THRONE, for Professor Barker does that himself, far better than I could hope to, in his game. Suffice it to say that we have spared no expense to do it justice when TSR publishes it. The box will be about 9" x 12" with a full-color illustration of the city of BeySy on the cover. The Professor is also one heck of an illustrator, and he did that map in a medieval style with building erections, larger-than-life figures of men, and so forth. In addition to a rules book (about the same number of words as D&D, possibly quite a few more) done in two-column, 3 1/2 x 11 size with a plastic ring binding so it will open flat to any section, there will be three full-color, plasticized mapboards (similar to the one found in STAR PROBE). Two are the map of the world, and the other is the city of Jakala. The first two are done with permission, on SPI hex maps, while the latter is done on a slightly smaller hex grid. The unfortunate part is what the whole will cost -- the $20 price range -- but we plan to make the separate parts available so that much cash won't have to be laid out all at once. We expect the work to be available by 15 July.

We also have a wonderful "parlor" version of D&D dungeon adventures coming up fairly soon -- great for when there are only non-addicts to play games with, for the family, or when there is only an hour or two for play. The game is well done, and its components are top-quality, and we expect it to be popular for many reasons -- not the least of which is it will help D&D enthusiasts demonstrate to the uninitiated why they love fantasy games.

I sang through both of the tunes in "Music to Loot Dungeons By". Good show!

There seems to be considerable confusion amongst your contributors -- particularly those who tend to be in a flap about incomplete or unpalatable solutions (to them) of D&D rules/questions/problems. The game is complex and complicated. When it was released, it was by no means in a final (or even polished) form, but were we to sit on it for another few years in order to get it that way? Can a broad fantasy game ever be finished? Of course we could not hold off publication, for it was too much fun to keep from others.

Dave and I disagree on how to handle any number of things, and both of our campaigns differ from the "rules" found in D&D. If the time ever comes when all aspects of fantasy are covered and the vast majority of its players agree on how the game should be played, D&D will have become staid and boring indeed. Sorry, but I don't believe that there is anything desirable in having various campaigns playing similarly to one another. D&D is supposed to offer a challenge to the imagination and to do so in many ways. Perhaps the most important is in regard to what the probabilities of a given situation are. If players know what all of the monster parameters are, what can be expected in a given situation, exactly what will happen to them if they perform thus and so, most of the charm of the game is gone. Frankly, the reason I enjoy playing in Dave Arneson's campaign is that I do not know his treatments of monsters and suchlike, so I must keep thinking and reasoning in order to "survive". Now, for example, if I made a proclamation from on high which suited Mr. Johnstone, it would certainly be quite unacceptable to hundreds or even thousands of other players. My answer is, and has always been, if you don't like the way I do it, change the bloody rules to suit yourself and your players. D&D enthusiasts are far too individualistic and imaginative a bunch to be in agreement, and I certainly refuse to play god for them -- except as a referee in my own campaign where they jolly well better toe the mark. Let us consider the magic-user question.

We allow magic-users to employ the number of spells shown on the table, so a 1st level m-u gets exactly one 1st level spell to use once before he must go back to his books and prepare to use the spell once again -- or a spell once again. To allow unlimited use of the spell is to make the m-u's too powerful. There is a better solution, of course; one I have been aware of since the first. That is to utilize a point system based on the m-u's basic abilities and his or her level. Spell cost is then taken as a function of the spell and the circumstances in which it is cast and possibly how much force is put into the spell. All that would have required a great deal of space and been far more complex to handle, so I opted for the simple solution.

Again, as a case in point, Ted Johnstone says I have trouble telling which rules are so completely obvious that he doesn't need to explain them. That, dear friends, is a statement which could only be made by someone who has never authored a set of rules or a game! Many of the rules which are completely obvious to me are totally obscure to others. I can say in complete truthfulness that I have had to explain each and every section of the rules to some players, either in person or by letter.

I desire variance in interpretation and, as long as I am editor of the TSR line and its magazine, I will do my utmost to see that there is as little trend towards standardization as possible. Each campaign should be a "variant", and there is no "official interpretation" from me or anyone else. If a game of "Dungeons and Beavers" suits a group, all I say is more power to them, for every fine referee runs his own variant of D&D anyway.

I recall that I told Bob Sacks that in Greyhawk we do not have existing religions included, for this is a touchy area. We have such groups as "The Church of the Latter Day Great Old Ones," Church of Crom, Scientist", "Brethren of St. Cuthbert of the Cudgle", and so on. Gods sometimes intervene. There are some artifacts and the like which aid clerics. In general, however, clerics are powerful enough without much aid, for they have quite a few advantages and work up very quickly. Fighters are really the ones whom everyone should be irate about, for they have the hardest time of it, if not backed up by other classes or by lots of other fighters or blessed with the most powerful of magic gear.

How does one use gunpowder weapons in the confined spaces of the dungeon? What happens to ears? Blackmoor has some gunpowder usage but the filthy stuff won't work in Greyhawk's world.

By the way, a score of 18 is only the usual top limit for humans in Greyhawk. We have monsters with intelligence scores well over 18, and one player is about to work out a deal which will jump his to not less than 19.

Please inform Ted that I too subscribe to the slogan "D&D is too important to leave to Gary Gygax." Gosh and golly! Whoever said anything else. However, pal, best remember that it is far too good to leave to you or any other individual or little group either! It now belongs to the thousands of players enjoying it worldwide, most of whom will probably never hear of you or your opinions unless you get them into THE STRATEGIC REVIEW. As soon as we can manage it, we intend to have expand SR, publish bimonthly and include a letter column.

Thanks again for sending A&E. It was most enjoyable. Watch out though, that it doesn't start D&D down the road of DIPLOMACY fandom with its constant feuds, bickering, invective, etc. Now tell the fellows to pick on Dave Arneson awhile -- after all he had as much to do with the whole mess as I did!

Regards, E. Gary Gygax

NOTE: To provide some context for part of Gygax's reply I am adding this comment by Ted Johnstone from Alarums&Excursions #1 (Addendum - I believe I have misattributed this comment, as Gygax perhaps did as well, and it is by Mark Swanson in reply to Ted Johnstone instead of a comment by Ted Johnstone himself).

TED JOHNSTONE - My comment on the non-existence of a "Charm Monster" spell was a symptom of my usual disease of firstdraftitis. I've read the rules but haven't memorized them. Two points. // Howver, on a larger subject, I am a supporter of the slogan "D&D is too important to leave to Gary Gygax." Gary has produced other games in the past. The problem has been that they are not interesting in their full form. They tend to be flawed by simple, bad solutions to complex problems. Thus, in Gary Gygax's game, A MAGIC USER GETS TO USE EACH SPELL ONCE A DAY.

If a first-level magic user gets to charm one person a day with no other magical acts permitted, Gary's version of the spell is entirely appropriate. As is the "No saving throw against sleep," the lack of restrictions on how often a character can be healed, etc. (The rule can be found, vaguely, in book three, and explicitly in Gary's magazine, #3.) As I said, Gary has trouble telling which rules are so completely obvious that he doesn't need to explain them. Welcome, brother heretic, or were you planning to do it that way? This problem, how to limit the magic users, is second only to the question of what are the characters doing as defining the games. Gary Gygax says that a Medium has one spell a day, a seeress gets to cast to a day, etc -- and they are all out on a treasure hunt. It's a simple solution, but I don't like it.

NOTE: Further context reference for Gygax's reply concerning player attributes above 18. Comment is from Alarums & Excursions #1

TOM DIGBY: Somebody mentioned talking about things in D&D jargon and mentioned that "Kimball Kinnison has about a 16 intelligence." These attributes are obtained for a character by rolling three six-sided dice, with a possible range of 3-18, a mean of 10.5, and a standard deviation of about 2.96... The Mensa cutoff is the 98th percentile and comes out to 16.5 intelligence. The normal curve has one person in a thousand about 19.5 though, somethingyou can never get with three dice. This may mean that there are a number of people in fandom whose intelligence is greater than can exist in a D&D world.

NOTE: Even further context. I believe Gygax's mention of Dave Arneson's role in creating D&D stems from this comment by Barry Gold in Alarums & Excursions #1.

From Alarums & Excursions #1 by Barry Gold

Lee and I, as publishers of Alarums and Excursions, recommend that you buy the rules to Dungeons and Dragons if you don't already have them. Xeroxing somebody else's copy is unethical and illegal too. If you are going to get involved enough in the game to build your dungeon, you should at least spring for $10 for the rule books. If you aren't making your own dungeons, you don't really need the books - some other player can tell you how to make and play a character. So there is no excuse for making a bootleg copy and depriving Gary Gygax, the game's inventor, of his fair share.

Languages of Oerthly Magic - Write

30). Write

Amedian - Kaeandeka (Ka-An-De-Ka)

Bakluni (Ancient) - Azmak (Az-Mak)

Drow - Aer (Ar)

Dwarven - Kraevar (Kra-Var)

Elven - Karjottae (Kar-Jot-Ta)

Flan - Scrabah (Scra-Bah)

Fruz - Skrafa (Skra-Fa)

Giantish - Scraeaban (Scr-Ab-An)

Gnomish - Skravan (Skra-Van)

Oeridian - Zapaz (Za-Paz)

Olman - Elata (El-At-A)

Suel - Screbar (Scre-Bar)

Languages of Oerthly Magic - Ventriloquism

29). Ventriloquism

Amedian - Kazangamzae Mabael (Kaz-Ang-Am-Za Ma-Bal)

Bakluni (Ancient) - Konazmak Kadaer (Kon-Az-Mak Ka-Dar)

Drow - Bezzalna Mezza (Bez-Zal-Na Mez-Za)

Dwarven - Talaer Vedar (Tal-Ar Ved-Ar)

Elven - Pahae Palan (Pah-A Pal-An)

Flan - Laebar A Bafaed (La-Bar A Ba-Fad)

Fruz - Tala Langat (Ta-La Lan-Gat)

Giantish - Spraeakan Vat (Spra-Ak-An Vat)

Gnomish - Praet Val (Prat Val)

Oeridian - Govaerat Paka (Gov-Ar-At Pa-Ka)

Olman - Paka Atavara (Pa-Ka At-Av-Ar-A)

Suel - Laka Azka (Lak-A Az-Ka)

Languages of Oerthly Magic - Unseen Servant

28). Unseen Servant

Amedian - Gabu Matumesh (Ga-Bu Ma-Tum-Esh)

Bakluni (Ancient) - Gorunmaean Hezmaetze (Go-Run-Ma-An Hez-Mat-Ze)

Drow - Laehatatlan Zolga (La-Hat-At-Lan Zol-Ga)

Dwarven - Uzete Tenaer (Uz-Et Ten-Ar)

Elven - Nakematon Palveljae (Na-Kem-At-On Pal-Vel-Ja)

Flan - Zerbezake Dofektae (Zer-Bez-Ak Do-Fek-Ta)

Fruz - Ozedar Jon (Oz-Ed-Ar Jon)

Giantish - Unsekbaren Denare (Un-Sek-Ba-Ren De-Nar)

Gnomish - Ongezene Denar (On-Gez-En De-Nar)

Oeridian - Nevedma Slaega (Nev-Ed-Ma Sla-Ga)

Olman - Kanat Velakkaran (Kan-At Vel-Ak-Ka-Ran)

Suel - Kaeke Servas (Ka-Ke Ser-Vas)

Languages of Oerthly Magic - Tenser's Floating Disc

27). Tenser's Floating Disc

Amedian - Winga Madara (Win-Ga Ma-Da-Ra)

Bakluni (Ancient) - Kaene Dara (Ka-En Da-Ra)

Drow - Laebegoe Kor (La-Be-Go Kor)

Dwarven - Fladendae Zerkale (Fla-Den-Da Zer-Kal)

Elven - Kellava Empera (Kel-La-Va Em-Pe-Ra)

Flan - Zerkal Ar Snamah (Zer-Kal Ar Sna-Mah)

Fruz - Flotanda Hraeng (Flot-An-Da Hra-Eng)

Giantish - Flotandea Kress (Flot-An-De Kres)

Gnomish - Dravendae Zerkal (Dra-Ven-Da Zer-Kal)

Oeridian - Plavaeashka Krug (Pla-Va-Ash-Ka Krug)

Olman - Mitakkam Vattam (Mit-Ak-Kam Vat-Tam)

Suel -Volitar Zerkul (Vol-It-Ar Zer-Kul)

Languages of Oerthly Magic - Spider Climb

26). Spider Climb

Amedian - Vaddu Kupanda (Vad-Du Ku-Pan-Da)

Bakluni (Ancient) - Oramezek Turmanaze (Or-Am-Zek Tur-Ma-Naz)

Drow - Pak Mazaze (Pak Maz-Az)

Dwarven - Inzeke Stigeng (In-Zek Stig-Eng)

Elven - Hontenan Nozue (Hon-Ten-An No-Zu)

Flan - Tog Fetehedae (Tog Fet-He-Da)

Fruz - Kordaram Klafar (Kor-Da-Ram Kla-Far)

Giantish - Inzektane Afstag (In-Zek-Tan Af-Stag)

Gnomish - Inzeke Klim (In-Zek Klim)

Oeridian - Nazekome Podam (Naz-Ek-Om Po-Dam)

Olman - Pukka Kilempe (Puk-Ka Kil-Emp)

Suel - Aranae Azaendatar (Ar-An-A Az-An-Da-Tar)