TSR's Skip Williams on the Origin of Pegataurs the Iconic D&D Monster

 

Pegataurs are an iconic creature from the D&D multiverse that is strangely underused. In the World of Mystara they are found in the Known World, the Empire of Alphatia, the City of Serraine and on the Savage Coast. Some are found living among elves or making their lairs in moutain sides, while others lend their services as mercenaries or trainers of Pegasi mounts to ground dwellers. 

 

Part Elf and part Pegasus, these magnificent D&D creatures first appeared in 1986 in the epic adventure Vengeance of Alphaks (M2) for the Classic D&D edition popularly known as BECMI. Pegataurs most recently made an appearance in the latest edition of D&D in the book Dungeons & Dragons: Worlds and Realms (2024) where the the character named Luphandi, a free thinking Pegataur who befriends the legendary Wizard Mordenkainen as they explore the World of Mystara.

Including a Pegataur character in Dungeons & Dragons: Worlds and Realms in that book's chapter on Mystara is perhaps not a coincidence as this legendary setting is where Vengeance of Alphaks was set, like most of the wonderful BECMI product line. It was Jeff Easley who brought the creatures to life in the spectacular painting shown above, gracing the cover of the adventure. 

Skip Williams was kind enough to share with me how the creatures came to be and how he worked with Jeff Easley to bring the creatures to life in the spectacular painting shown above, gracing the cover of the adventure.  

I created pegataurs for the adventure—flying sentries for a flying castle. TSR had me write an art order for the cover. I wrote something along the lines of "ramparts of a floating castle sticking up through clouds with a pegataur (think of a centaur with pegasus wings). Easley took it from there, choosing the composition, color palette, and making a single pegataur archer as the focus.

M2 Vengance of Alphaks continues the saga of Norwold, a region in Mystara fought over by two Empires; Thyatis and Alphatia. Here we follow the story of Alphaks one of the main villains of the Mystara setting as he rises to become a powerful demon. The Demon's main goal is to destroy the Empire of Alphatia.This is not the last time we see Pegataurs in D&D however. In 1989,  famous game designer and author Aaron Allston expanded on the backstory of Pegataurs and their connections to the Empire of Alphatia for the Mystara setting. 

That same year, Pegataurs went from being just a monster to be encountered to also becoming a playable race in PC2 Top Balista by Carl Sargent. This sourcebook for BECMI focused on flying creatures that could be used by players and DMs alike and also explored the Flying City of Serraine that travels across the skies of Mystara. The source book also expanded on the lore by Williams and Allston.

In 1994 Pegataurs appeared in the AD&D 2nd Edition in the AD&D Monstrous Compendium Mystara Appendix by John Nephew. Here we learn more about Pegataurs, their allies such as the Phanatons and their way of life.  

 Pegataur Bibliography

• M2 Vengeance of Alphaks (1986)
• AC9 Creature Catalogue (1986)
• DMR3 Creature Catalogue (1993)
• PC2 Top Balista  (1989)
• Dawn of the Emperors (1989)
• AD&D Trading Card R1 #722 1991
• AD&D 2ND EDITION AD&D Mystara Monstrous Compendium Appendix.  (1994)
• Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Three  (1996)
• Orc's Head Peninsula Campaign Book
• Dungeons & Dragons: Worlds and Realms (2024)

A big thank you to Skip Williams for answering questions about this race and to the wonderful people of The Piazza D&D fan community who helped with researching Pegataurs in this topic.

Are you a fan of Pegataurs? How would you include Pegataurs in an adventure?

-Havard

Morley the Wizard - Should This Early TSR Mascot Make a Comeback?

 

Back in the 1970s TSR created an iconic character that we don't see around much these days. Morley the Wizard was an early Mascot of D&D. He appeared in commercials aimed at children and younger gamers. He also appeared on the cover of the Fantasy Forest Board Game (1st printing). According to Screen Rant, the character may have been created in order to shift perceptions away from all the negative press given to D&D during the "Satanic Panic". 

Frank Mentzer told me that the character was created by Dave Dimery. Dimery was Vice President of Marketing at TSR at the time. "[Dimery was an]  old friend of Gary's (since childhood Chicago)" Frank told me. The image of Morley even appeared on some RPGA material during the time when Mentzer was in charge of that project. 

With WotC bringing back the cartoon characters as well as LJN toy characters like Warduke and Strongheart, will Morley be next?

Huge thanks to Frank Mentzer for providing additional information, images and documents for this article. 

-Havard

DA3 City of the Gods (TSR, 1987)

 

While it would later be revisited in the d20 version City of the Gods for the Dave Arneson's Blackmoor line, the legendary City of the Gods from Dave Arneson's original campaign had been whispered about since it had been mentioned in the First Fantasy Campaign (1977) or perhaps even earlier as a place where many of the original Blackmoor players would see their characters meeting their doom. Even Rob Kuntz and Gary Gygax had struggled to face the dangers of this place.

But it was DA3 City of the Gods that would first give full details about the City and its surrounding Valley of the Ancients. TSR and Dave Arneson had seeming overcome some of their differences and the DA series allowed fans to finally learn more about the world of Blackmoor. TSR partnered up Dave Arneson with freelancer Dave Ritchie who authored the modules based on manuscrips provided by Dave who also gave his final approval on DA1-3. Both Arneson and Ritchie were credited on these three modules, unlike DA4 Duchy of Ten which is only credited to Ritchie while still clearly based on details from Arneson. 

This adventure also gave the world more details about the Peshwah Horsemen and their lands, including expanding the Blackmoor world map south for the first time. Early on in the adventure, the PCs are introduced to Bosero, the character originally played by Jon Sider, before they are soon attacked by things that can only be linked to the City of the Gods. Although the module's excellent cover by Doug Chaffee does not really reflect the contents of the adventure, the shameless use of science fiction on a fantasy adventure module, told customers that Blackmoor is a very different place than what you can expect from most Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Indeed, combining sci fi and fantasy elements was one of the hallmarks of Dave's original campaign and could be seen as early as in Supplement II's Temple of the Frog. Zeitgeist Games would later double down on sci fi in Blackmoor campaigns with Clock & Steam decades later.

Item Code: #9191 (DA3)
Title: City of the Gods
Type: Adventure
Author: Dave L. Arneson and David J. Ritchie
Published: 1987
Format: 48-page book w/tri-fold cover, fold-out map

"New Magic... That's what the flying egg has. New magic unlike any ever encountered in Blackmoor. New magic of a type that could give the fledgling kingdom an important edge in the wars that are brewing on its borders. There are only a few minor problems. Like the fact that the magician who piloted the metal egg to one of Blackmoor's southern outposts was killed before he could utter a word. And the fact that Blackmoor's sworn enemies, the monks of the evil and eccentric Order of the Frog, are also interested in the magic represented by the egg. And, most important, the fact that the egg came from the distant and dangerous City of the Gods. Set amidst the blistered salt flats of the Valley of the Ancients, the City of the Gods is a strange and deadly metal metropolis whose powerful guardians do not welcome intruders. Yet it is to this place of deadly menace that Blackmoor's leaders now send a daring expedition - to bargain for aid in the coming wars - or to steal the magic of the gods."

• DA3 City of the Gods can be purchased as PDF or POD from DrivethruRPG (not an affilated link)
• Read more about DA3 at the Comeback Inn Forum!

Have you played this adventure or do you own a copy? I would love to hear your thoughts!

-Havard

DA4 The Duchy of Ten (1987)

 I talked a bit about DA4 back in 2016 when it was first released on PDF at the DMsGuild. Back then I mentioned how Dave Arneson's name does not appear on the cover of this adventure and that Dave had expressed some dissatisfaction about the adventure as he had not been given a chance to give it his approval which he presumably had done with the previous modules in the series.

Duchy of Ten is the final instalment of TSR's DA module series. Although the name Duchy of Tehn also appeared in Gary Gygax' Greyhawk, its origins are likely from Dave Arneson's campaign. In the original campaign, these lands may have been home to the villain The Ran of Ah'Foo and it may at one point have been controlled by a player named Chuck Munson. 

The adventure as published covers the sea voyage to the Duchy which is located to the west of Blackmoor. On the voyage there, the PCs may have to deal with a number of threats including Skandaharian raiders, Merfolk and traitorous sailors. Upon arrival, it is revealed that the Duchy of Ten is now under the occupation of the the conquering people known as the Afridhi and their queen, Toska Rusa. In this adventure you can also learn about the evil deity known as Zugzul and what nefarious plans his priestess Toska Rusa has with the artifact called the Well of Souls. 

It is unfortunate that Dave Arneson did not get the chance to give his final approval of this adventure, but comparing the information given here with what we learn about the Duchy of Ten in DA1, it does seem like much of the information does come from sources Arneson had approved of, even if he may have wanted the storyline to be different. We don't really know if there were any specifics Dave was unhappy with and if so, we don't know what those might have been. We do know that when Zeitgeist Games revisited the Duchy for the d20 Dave Arneson's Blackmoor line, they decided to keep the Duchy pretty much as presented in this adventure. At the time, ZGG said it was what fans had come to expect from the region. It is unfortunate that they did not revisit this adventure for the d20 line as they did with the previous modules in the series. 

Overall, this is a fun adventure and like the rest of the DA series, it allows for much exploration outside the main storyline and can in many ways be used as a setting sourcebook as much as an adventure. Mystara fans can use the introduction part where the heroes are PCs travelling through time, but this part can easily be skipped and the adventure can be ran with PCs who are heroes from Blackmoor. 

DA4 The Duchy of Ten 

 Item Code: #9205 (DA4) 

Title: The Duchy of Ten 

Type: Adventure 

Author: David J. Ritchie 

Published: 1987 

Format: 48-page book w/tri-fold cover, fold-out map

"The Well of Souls... 

That's what Zugzul bade the Afridhi call the evil artifact that he had taught them to make. They call it the Well of Souls, and they must carry it before them into every battle - and they would be mighty. Thus said the god of Afridhi, Zugzul the One. So the Afridhi did as they were bade. Seeking the volcano called the Hill of the Hammer in the far Barrens of Karsh, they built in its heart a great forge. There, as Zugzul had promised, efreet came to help them make the mighty artifact.

 

There, amid vile, unholy rites, they bound the souls of men into its very substance, and, as it took shape, they sharpened their swords for the red-handed work that must surely follow hard upon its completion. Many were the men who guarded the Hill of the Hammer during the days of making - for their foes in hated Blackmoor would try to unmake that which they had wrought. Yet, it was not men that would keep the Well of Souls from destruction, but a prophecy - that the artifact would be unmade only by the hand of one as yet unborn!"

Buy this adventure in Print or PDF format from DrivetrhuRPG

More discussion of this adventure at The Comeback Inn. 

Do you own a copy f the Duchy of Ten? What do you think about this adventure?

-Havard

Jeff Grubb's Lost Mystara Sourcebook To Be Released to the Fans at Pandius

Edit: It has since been made clear that this announcement was a bit premature. The Vaults of Pandius are still awaiting the green light from WotC. Fingers crossed!

It was just announced that Wizards of the Coast have given their approval for a long lost manuscript written by legendary D&D Game Designer Jeff Grubb to be released for free to the fans at The Vaults of Pandius. 

The Mystara Sourcebook was comissioned by TSR in 1990s and was to be part of the companies relaunch of the Classic D&D setting under the AD&D 2nd Edition rules. Mystara first appeared in published form in 1980 with the release of the adventure X1 Isle of Dread and was from that point on the default setting of the B/X and BECMI D&D line which also incorporated Blackmoor. 

Sadly, the nearly completed book that Jeff Grubb had written was never published as curious reversals of decisions within TSR's management and sales department at the time suddenly decided that instead of a book presenting all of Mystara to AD&D 2nd Ed fans, they instead wanted a product focusing only on the Grand Duchy of Karameikos. These behind the scenes workings which would eventually lead to a gradual death of Mystara even resulted in Jeff Grubb leaving TSR. He describes the story better himself at his blog.

As rumours that this manuscript existed in a nearly complete form, fans became hopeful that it would one day become available for them to read and enjoy. One fan, Travis Henry, even started a petition with more than 800 signatures. Jeff Grubb said that he would love for this work to become available as he was always a fan of the setting since the days of the Known World.

This week, Shawn Stanley who has been managing the Vaults of Pandius website for almost 25 years announced at The Piazza that the book will now finally be released later this year for the website's anniversary. The website was made into the official fan website by Wizards of the Coast in the early 2000s and remains the best resource website for the Mystara fan community. It is very fitting that this book will now find a home there.

-Havard

Rest in Peace Brian Blume (1950- 2020)

One of the Co-founder of TSR, passed away last Friday. Brian John Blume (January 12, 1950 ~ March 27, 2020 helped found the company together with Gary Gygax and Don Kaye in 1973, just one year before the company launched Dungeons & Dragons and changed the world. 

Brian Blume co-authored Warriors of Mars and Boot Hill with Gary Gygax and created Panzer Warfare. In connection to Blackmoor, the Mon Class which appeared in Supplement II: Blackmoor is sometimes credited to Blume. The Dungeons & Dragons Companion Set was dedicated to him with the following text:

As the saying goes, 'for want of a nail, the war was lost'; and for want of a company, the D&D game might have been lost amidst the lean and turbulent years of the last decade. This set is therefore dedicated to an oft-neglected leader of TSR Inc., who with Gary Gygax founded this company and made it grow. The D&D Companion set is dedicated to BRIAN BLUME. -- foreword, D&D Companion Set 1984

His obituary reads:

Brian John Blume January 12, 1950 ~ March 27, 2020 (age 70) 

 Brian J. Blume, 70 of Lake Geneva, passed away Friday March 27, 2020 at the Lakeland Nursing Home in Elkhorn WI from Lewy Body Dementia and Parkinson's disease. 

 Brian was born January 12, 1950 in Oak Park, IL to Melvin and Kathleen Blume. He grew up in Wauconda IL, about an hour from Chicago, with 4 brothers and 3 half-brothers, and graduated as the valedictorian of his high school class. He attended Wabash College, but followed in the footsteps of his father by leaving and becoming a journeyman tool and die maker. While he excelled academically, he loved the precision and sense of exacting creation in tool making. He met and married Victoria Miller of Elkhorn WI, and they have been married for 40 years at the time of his death. They were devoted to each other throughout their marriage. Brian was also well known as the co-founder, with the late Gary Gygax, also of Lake Geneva, of TSR, the company involved in the creation and world-wide popularization of Dungeons and Dragons, the first “role playing” game to achieve national and international acclaim. 

 Brian was instrumental in the development of the company and in helping to expand the details of the Dungeons and Dragons world. He was the author of several other TSR games. His creative work at TSR built on a lifetime of interest in, and enjoyment from, games that challenge the intellect, expand the players’ horizons, interests, and understanding, and are just plain fun. He could always be found with friends and family pursuing a new, challenging, and enjoyable game. His general knowledge was encyclopedic. He is remembered in the gaming world as being one of the sharpest players of any game, who always found the best and most innovative games, and who was one of the friendliest and fairest players who ever rolled a die, moved a token, or played a card. Despite being hard to beat, he always played for simple enjoyment. 

 He is remembered by family and friends as generous, soft spoken, and always concerned about the well being of others. Even in the later stages of his disease he still had the quick wit and insight that was one of his many gifts throughout life. He is survived by his wife, Victoria Miller Blume, his brothers; Daniel, Keith, Douglas, Kevin, Gary, and Erick Blume, his brother-in-law, George Miller, and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his brother, Bruce Blume. In keeping with his lifelong wish to help others, his body is being donated for research. Also, in keeping with Brian's wishes, there will be no memorial service. Please consider donations to the Parkinson's Foundation or Lake Geneva Public Library.

Our hobby has lost yet another figure of historic importance to the development of Dungeons & Dragons. My thoughts go to his friends and family.

-Havard

Carl L. Sargent (1952-2018)

Matt Forbeck posted the following sad news on Facebook yesterday:

" Word is that Carl Sargent of Games Workshop and TSR fame has passed away. I never met Carl, but we had many mutual friends, and I loved his work. It's been a hard year for RPG legends."

Carl Sargent is perhaps best known for his work on Warhammer for GW and Greyhawk for TSR. This British game designer also wrote Fighting Fantasy game books under the name Keith Martin.

I knew him best for his Mystara RPG products; Gaz 13 The Shadowelves (co-authored with Gary Thomas), PC2 Top Balista and  B11 Kings Festival. B11 formed the basis for one of my most succesful Mystara campaigns based around the Grand Duchy of Karameikos.



Rest in Peace.



-Havard

TSR vs. Arduin

Yesterday, Andy Markham shared the above document on Facebook titled "David A Hargrave - The Arduin Chronicles #2, from Alarums & Excursions #26 (Aug. 1977)" As you can see above, David Hargrave, creator of Arduin, had recieved a letter from TSR objecting to some things in his game and apparently threatening to sue.

 Tim Kask who was at TSR at the time offered the following explanation:

 In 1977, TSR began aggressively pursuing folks and companies that we thought were infringing on our IP or trademarks and copyrights. We reached out to several and advised them of the legal shit-storm that might befall them if they didn’t knock it off. They were legion, and Arduin Grimoire was just one of many that fell afoul of Brian and Gary’s watchful eye. The bit about the spell is easy enough to deduce-they lifted ours verbatim. Their foreword may have been one of the anarchist genre prevalent in California then; they mostly said make copies, make your own books, screw the publisher’s rights, and so on.

 It is interesting in this time when IP discussions are all over the internet in this day of self-publishing and arguments on what can be shared and not etc. This is a good reminder that these discussions have been tied to the hobby since the beginning. TSR themselves were sued by Dave Arneson, the Tolkien Estate and others, but they were also fierce in defending their IP against others. Hargrave being more well known example.

Kask also went into some detail on how times have changed:

By the great stench-laden hairy armpits of Groo, man, it has been 39 years! While it may have been a big deal to them, it was just one of many we fought off. Also consider this, all of you younger folks. We wrote letters and used snail mail: 3 days to get about anywhere in the US; if they wrote back that day and mailed it the next, a week is gone when you get your answer. Long Distance telephone calls on land lines cost big money during the day, lesser money at night. We sent the mag to the printer with a week of advance time; that meant what we wrote in it was a month old when it came off of the presses. A&E had an erratic publishing schedule, anywhere from 3 to 7 weeks. It is most likely that a settlement was reached after something else had gone to press.

So while some things are very different today, it is also interesting to see how some things are indeed the same.



-Havard

TSR Authors Talk about Mystara and the D&D Gazetteers

Do you remember back in the first decades of Tabletop gaming? Back then, our best hope of interracting with the Dungeons & Dragons game designers was to write a letter to Dragon Magazine and maybe have someone reply. Especially for those of us living in places where the idea of going to GenCon or Origins seemed like an epic journey.

These days though with this thing called The Internet, that has all changed. Over the last couple of months, the Mystara Reborn group on Facebook has exploded. It has now reached 1195 members and keeps growing. One of the great things about this group is the participation of many of the TSR game designers who helped contribute to this classic Dungeons & Dragons Game Setting. With a history of published material dating back to 1981's X1 The Isle of Dread, the list of game designers having been involved with the World of Mystara over the years sure is a long one.

Even more amazing to me is how so many of these game designers have such fond memories of their contribution to this setting, so much that they are actively participating in discussions in the group. Current membership includes Bruce Heard, Frank Mentzer, Ed Greenwood, Scott Haring, Steve Perrin, Jim Bambra, Jennell Jaquays, Douglas Niles, Ken Rolston, Steven Schend, Lawrence Schick, Merle Rasmussen, Michael Dobson, Steven Winter and Ann Dupuis. (In random order. My appologies if I forgot anyone, it was a long list to scroll through!)

It is indeed a great time to live if you are a fan of one of the oldest Dungeons & Dragons Settings. I am looking forward to see who else will sign up to join the chat in the coming months.  Especially missed are Aaron Allston, Tom Moldvay, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. But those esteemed gentlemen are not forgotten.

Sign up to Mystara Reborn here.


-Havard

Jim Bambra and B10 Night's Dark Terror

B10 Night's Dark  Terror is recognized by fans as one of the best adventure modules for the classic (BECMI) edition of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game and is a fan favorite module for the World of Mystara. Set in the Grand Duchy of Karameikos, the adventure features a combination of dungeon crawling and wilderness exploration. For a long time it was seen as the conclusion of the B series of modules that began with B1 In Seach of the Unknown by Dave Arneson player Mike Carr and B2 Keep on the Borderlands by Gary Gygax.

B10 Night's Dark Terror was published by TSR UK and written by three British game designers Jim Bambra, Graeme Morris, and Phil Gallagher. Today, at the Facebook BECMI group Jim Bambra revealed the story of how the module was written and the module's overall design goals:

"Night's Dark Terror was designed to bridge the transition of the Basic Set to the Expert Set. It's goal was to introduce wilderness adventuring in an easy and fun way that would lead players on a clear quest without forcing them down pre-defined paths. The story would drive the players forward as they followed the clues that eventually leads them to the Lost Valley. "

Unlike most D&D adventure modules of the time, this one was written by a team of three experienced designers. So how did they work together as a team and who brought what to the table?

"At TSR UK we'd already written adventures for the D&D game. Graeme Morris had designed X8 Drums on Fire Mountain and CM6 Where Chaos Reigns. I'd cut my teeth on O2 Blade of Vengeance. All three games featured wilderness exploration, so we were well versed in what we needed to do. “Design a great adventure that players would love.” Little did I think that gamers would still be playing it almost 30 years later! Design work was shared between Graeme and myself, with Phil Gallagher involved in many of the brainstorming sessions. I can't exactly remember who did what, but Graeme designed Sukiskyn and the goblin siege; I worked on the Iron Ring and the wilderness encounters, as well as the journey up to Hutaaka and the Lost Valley itself. Having said that it was not that clearly demarcated. Graeme's and my design work is pretty much intermingled throughout. As ideas were shared on this project, the text wasn't always written by the person who had the original idea. Overall, B10 was a collaborative project that was great fun to work on."

Jim Bambra in the couch, middle

The module also included some additional features that were uncommon back then. An early scene in the module is a fairly epic battle of Sukiskyn, where the homestead is being attacked by goblin tribes:

" We also had the opportunity to add the large-scale map of Sukiskyn and the cardboard counters. I was particularly pleased with this as it matches my style of play of using maps and miniatures to keep track of the players and NPCs."

Design by committee is not usually something that comes with positive connotations, but in this case it clearly did work. The TSR UK branch had delivered yet another excellent game product. And yes Jim, we are still playing it all these decades later. Thank you!





-Havard



Image Source:
Jim Bambra (Pumpkin Studios): https://warzone.atlassian.net/wiki/display/wzpedia/Pumpkin+Studios

The Great Kingdom (Documentary)

The Great Kingdom (Trailer) from The Great Kingdom on Vimeo.

Check out this trailer! The Great Kingdom is a documentary put together by Chris Haifley, James Sprattley and Andrew Pascal depicting the origins of D&D and the early days of TSR. Jon Peterson (Playing at the World), Paul Stormberg (The Treasure Trove) and Michael Mornard are also among those involved.

One thing I liked about the trailer is the point made by Stormberg that the real tragedy of the history of TSR is that both Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax ended up on the outside and their creation, Dungeons & Dragons was left in the hands of others.

For those wanting to find out more, the Great Kingdom Facebook Page is a good place to stay updated on this project. I am certainly looking forward to seeing the completed film!





-Havard