First Fantasy

Tom Moldvay, in the introduction to his edition of Dungeons & Dragons, claims that “the game is most enjoyable when played by a group of four to eight people.”  Yet, with regard to number of players, the first little brown book states:  “At least one referee and from four to fifty players can be handled in any single campaign, but the referee to player ratio should be about 1:20 or thereabouts.”  This significant difference highlights an important distinction between new school and old school.  I have commented previously on this distinction.

Today, our concept of a role-playing game tends to correspond with the Moldvay paradigm – a gamemaster and five players (give or take a couple).  Each player controls a character and those characters comprise a more-or-less cohesive 'party'.  A campaign is focused on the party and is essentially is the 'story' of the party's adventures.

In 1977, Judges Guild published The First Fantasy Campaign, providing details about Dave Arneson's Blackmoor – the campaign from which Dungeons & Dragons developed.  At its height, Blackmoor accommodated dozens of players simultaneously; however, Arneson stated in a 1981 interview (published in the premier issue of Pegasus), “I usually prefer to run adventures with about four or five people.”  An old school campaign encompassed more than a single adventuring party; it was a shared environment.  Occasionally, some player characters would cooperate to loot a dungeon but at any given time, different player characters would be involved in various activities, sometimes at cross purposes.  Other early games, such as En Garde, exemplified this sort of 'shared environment' concept.

Today, we would call it a “sourcebook,” but in those bygone days The First Fantasy Campaign (hereinafter FFC) was considered a “playing aid.”  (The map shown above comes from this publication.)  The book enlightens us about what player characters did in the proto-D&D setting.  Blackmoor was a frontier region, uncivilized and essentially unexplored.  Aside from dungeon expeditions, player characters could explore wilderness areas, construct strongholds, and raise armies.  Dungeons & Dragons provides rules for these activities, but as the editions have progressed, less emphasis has been placed on such things.  Yet Blackmoor characters had even more concerns, not the least of which was spending the voluminous wealth taken from the dungeons.

In the introduction to FFC, Arneson writes, “Character motivation was solved by stating that you did not get Experience Points until the money had been spent on your area of interest.”  FFC details seven “interests.”  Motivation consists of the various scores a character has among these interests; the higher the score, the better the 'exchange rate' of gold-to-experience the character has.  For instance, a character with a SONG score of 70 gets experience equivalent to 70% of the amount of gold pieces spent on that interest.  A character's interest scores are determined based on class and/or dice results.  The seven interests are:

WINE – The character purchases a quantity of “Spirits with a relatively high Alcoholic content.”  The character imbibes “to the limits of his capacity.”  Upon recovery, the character continues to drink.  This process continues until the purchased amount beverages is consumed (or, I suppose, until cirrhosis fatally affects the character).  “Experience gained while drunk does not count but treasure does.”

WOMEN – “The player will immediately proceed to the local establishment and expend all funds desired on Room plus Extras at that place.  Slaves of the appropriate type (left to player) may also be purchased with the funds and utilized to fulfil this classification. These slaves may then be sold at reduced value...”  This is one of the dark spots of Blackmoor.  On page 5 of FFC, we learn that the annual upkeep of a “Red” female slave is 25 to 130 gold pieces; for a “White” female slave, upkeep is 35 to 250 gold pieces.

SONG – At “the local tavern,” the character pays for the exploits of other player characters.  “Damages assessed by the tavern owner count...”

WEALTH – “Merely the stockpiling of Gold, Silver and similar items of value by the player. If these items are stolen, the player loses full value immediately upon discovery and may lose levels as a result.”

FAME – “This is gained by straight combat with creatures and players in the game.”  I suppose the character doesn't actually need to be victorious; however, there must be one or more witnesses to the event.  Experience is not awarded until a celebration takes place at a tavern.  (The cost of the celebration may be paid by someone else.)

RELIGION – “Funds are given to the local Religious denomination...”

HOBBY – “This is a catch-all category left to the Judge to award details on to the players.”  A Magic-User, for example, could have Spell Research as a hobby.  Other possible hobbies include “the devising of better Torture machines, making Gold, the Building of Flying Machines, all up to the Judge to outline and define within the limits of his campaign.”  Other examples are studies of animals, learning written and spoken languages, and “Researching old books to find leads to ancient treasure or magical libraries.”  Arneson notes that a hobby could lead “to additional adventures as players would order special cargos [sic] from off the board and then have to go and guard them so that the cargo would reach their lodging and then the player would get the Experience Points.” (original emphasis)

HAZARD IPSP/ISIS Official Map 7

Exposed as a clone of Marlene Dietrich, Bird Girl is despondent.

Meanwhile, an escaped Captain Cerulean parade balloon begins to deflate.

HAZARD IPSP/ISIS Official Map 7 has the distinction of being the only accessory released for Superhero 2044 (despite the implied existence of at least six other official maps).  Released by Judges Guild in 1980, this supplement is actually a 22” x 34” sheet folded into an 8½” x 11” package.  One side is a hex map of a large section of the Pacific Ocean.

The red outline is a rough approximation of the borders of the Hazard map.
The yellow area represents the portion of the sheet devoted to the product cover.

Inguria is shown between the southern tip of Japan and the northern tip of the Philippines.  In the south-east, there is a 'new continent,' the northern reaches of which are not presented on the map because of the cover.  The map legend displays the following phrase,“® 2044 IPSP/ISIS Printed in New Sidney.”  The other side of the sheet has a more practical 1980 Judges Guild copyright notice which, presumably, also applies to the map side.  'New Sidney' is the capital (or “capitol” as the map legend would have it) of 2044 Australia.  In 2044, New Sidney occupies the site that Port Augusta occupies in 2013.  Although consistently spelled 'New Sidney,' given the spelling errors that abound in the product, perhaps the author meant 'New Sydney.'  Inguria's Bloomberg is also misspelled as 'Bloomburg.'

The IPSP – detailed last week – is the Inguria Protection and Service Program, a government aid program for crime fighters.  ISIS is the 'International Survival Intelligence Service,' an organization – apparently associated to some extent with the IPSP – that seems primarily concerned with the collection and dissemination of geopolitical information.  Although IPSP is a government program, ISIS is apparently funded by subscription fees.  At least some of those fees go toward paying informants.  “Let us remind you,” Hazard states, “that we are still extensively dependent upon individual contributions of intelligence materials.”  The value of information supplied to ISIS is determined by a “panal [sic] of Intelligence Experts” that are “impartial.”

The side of the sheet opposite to the map displays text and some illustrations.  One-eighth of the sheet (equivalent to one page) is a Judges Guild product listing.  One would hope that game stats would be provided for the characters and creatures referenced in the text; however, this is not the case.

The text is loosely grouped into what could charitably be called 'articles.'  The largest such article gives a brief overview of various societies that inhabit regions depicted on the map.  For instance, “the Syndic” is an area on “the newly-risen sub-continent.”  The denizens there “wished to avoid the questions of politics” so, the societal “model they chose was a highly romanticized Mafia of the nineteen-thirties, with all the bad parts – Hit Men, Enforcers, Narcotics Traffic – removed.”  Because, you know, there aren't any politics in the Mafia.  I don't think 'politics' means what author Robert Bingham seems to think it means.  Oh, and the 'removed' bad parts?  “The Syndic produces and trains its own Enforcer Teams” and there is a “nationalized Smuggling System.”  Maybe not so removed after all.

We learn that Australia's “population was depleted by 85% during the six-day war” and Aborigines have “become totally extinct.”  Kangaroos have evolved to possess near-human intelligence and are often kept as household servants.  Other mutated Australian fauna include:  the Land Piranha (“a radically changed Wallaby with the habits and dental structure of a Shark”), the Geep (“a mutated Goat with hair that suspiciously resembles polyester”), the 'Wambat' (a wombat that is eight feet long, capable of gliding, and has claws with anesthetic poison), and “at least 37 separate species of Rabbit” ranging “from the tiny carnivorous Hellbiter to the giant (6 foot) Pink Pooka.”

RPGGeek lists Bob Bingham as the 'designer' of Hazard.  It so happens that Hazard is the only linked item on Bingham's RPGGeek page.  That page lists 'Robert Bingham' as an 'alternate name' even though Robert is the name on the product, not Bob.  There's a separate page for 'Robert K. Bingham' (no alternate name), which says “Unlikely the same as the artist Bob Bingham.”  However, Bob Bingham isn't listed as an artist.  Robert K's page has only three linked items; three issues of The Dungeoneer to which he contributed.  Interestingly, for two of the issues, Robert K is listed as an artist.  Sorry, but I have to bust out Occam's razor and conclude that the Robert Bingham associated with three 1979 issues of a Judges Guild periodical is the same Robert Bingham associated with a 1980 Judges Guild product.  I cannot conclude that Bingham consumed 'narcotics' during the creation of Hazard, but I think this is safe to assume.

The Sorry State of Civilization

Like many bloggers, I offer a variety of links that may be of interest to my readers.  I hate encountering dead links on other sites, and I don't want them on this site.  Occasionally, I check the links that I provide to make certain they're still active.  When I find a link that is no longer good, I get rid of it to save my readers from disappointment.

Anyway, in my latest sweep, I discovered that two links are no longer valid.  First, the Judges Guild site (JudgesGuild.org) is now offline; this is unfortunate, but understandable.  The second invalid link is nothing short of unconscionable.  The target of my “What is a thoul?” link was Wikipedia's “Thoul” article.  Notice my use of the past tense – the information elitists at Wikipedia have decided that “Thoul” no longer deserves an article; searches for thoul are redirected to a page called “List of Dungeons & Dragons monsters (1977–1999).”  What is wrong with these people?  Seriously, “Eggomania ” and “lipstick on a pig” get articles, but “Thoul” gets nixed?

When our civilization eventually falls, it won't be due to WMDs or economic collapse or some similar catastrophe.  No, the end of civilization will occur because self-appointed 'administrators' will have dismissed critical information in favor of Punky Brewster episode synopses.  Remember this the next time Jimmy Wales starts asking for handouts.

Given these execrable circumstances, I am compelled to create a 'What Is A Thoul?' page.  After all, if you want something done right, then do it yourself.