30 Years Of Dungeons And Dragons 264
vasqzr writes "CNN has a story about Dungeons and Dragons celebrating its 30th birthday. 'An estimated 25,000 fans in 1,200 stores celebrated the anniversary Saturday, said Charles Ryan, brand manager for role-playing games at Wizards of the Coast, a Renton, Washington, company that owns Dungeons & Dragons.'"
For those that didn't already know (Score:0, Informative)
Am I the only one that noticed... (Score:3, Informative)
I mean, this thing looks like its target at about a 4th grade reading level.
Happy B-Day to D&D anyway.
Dupe (Score:5, Informative)
Here [slashdot.org] and
Here [slashdot.org].
Re:Nice, Sort Of (Score:2, Informative)
I remeber playing AD&D and the reward at the end of a weekend of adventuring was a sword. And it took another weekend to find the magician that told me it did. Good times.
Explanation (Score:2, Informative)
part 1 [web1000.com]
Check your local P2P network for part2. Search for Dead Ale Wives Dungeons Dragons
Re:Nice, Sort Of (Score:2, Informative)
Mod useless parent (Sir Haxalot) down please (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Nice, Sort Of (Score:3, Informative)
As others have pointed out, TSR published the Ravenloft and Spelljammer campaign settings long before Wizards of the Coast bought TSR. More to the point, many fans regard the Ravenloft setting as one of the high points of the TSR years, because of its sharp sense of the Gothic horror genre. Wizards sold the line to White Wolf Game Studio, which continues to publish it under its Arthaus [swordsorcery.com] imprint.
As for Spelljammer, that was my own favorite AD&D campaign setting (along with Al-Qadim, the Arabian Nights setting). I had great fun writing the first Spelljammer module, WILDSPACE. Unfortunate much of the support line failed to live up to the premise's potential.
speedy sword-draw getting in the way of intimacy? (Score:2, Informative)
The World of Eamon (Score:2, Informative)
Tearing apart the Applesoft Basic and hacking my own weapons were a joy indeed!
And best of all, they're still out there! [wurb.com]
Gary Gygax (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Nice, Sort Of (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/article/
Re:Although correlation != causation (Score:5, Informative)
Re:celibate D&D geeks (Score:2, Informative)
No offense to celibate D&D geeks intended. I am a recovering D&D geek ... no comment on the celibacy status.
Loviatar, a goddess from Finnish myth, was in the AD&D Deities & Demigods manual - in fact, in her picture in the first edition she bared her breasts! This is something of an "in" joke for ex-D&D dufi like yours truly. Back in the early-80's, Loviatar's picture no doubt gave many an adolescent 'gameboy' his first glimpse of ... a woman. So what if she was a cheezy drawing ... she was hot!
The fact that she was the goddess of pain made it all the more titillating. I would try and scrounge an image, but I lost my manual years agoRe:Although correlation != causation (Score:3, Informative)
Didn't it ever occur to you to just grab a few d10s and use those for your hit points? That way you're only erasing and rewriting your hit points once a game, at the end when it's time to go.
Or, for those of us who suffered Frequent Death Syndrome, I could just use a d12 to track my hit points.
Re:Gary Gygax (Score:3, Informative)
There really is something to be said for sitting at a table discussing Bigby's line of spells and finding out the guy sitting next to you played the original Bigby, and the guy across the table played the original Mordenkainen.
That was hands down the best group of gamers I've ever gamed with in my life. I'd like to give the Gygax family a big warm thank you for filling my highschool years with creativity and a place where I fit in.
Re:celibate D&D geeks (Score:1, Informative)
Well, if you want to learn about Finnish mythology, Kalevala is not the best place to do it since Lönnrot did some hack and slash job when putting together different myths.
In original folk poems Loviatar was either one of the names of Louhi (among with Loveatar, Louhetar, and a number of other similar forms) or her daughter. (The folk mythology was not particularly consistent).
She got herself pregnant either by a sea monster (Iku-Turso, IIRC) or alternatively by evil winds and gave birth for nine demons, including at least Rutto, Rampa, and Perisokea (Plague, Lame, and Blind).
In the original poems she was not exactly a hottie, but an ugly hag.