3d6 Ability Checks in 1977 (Underworld Oracle #1)

I rely heavily on d6 ability checks in my games. I like them because I can adjust the number of dice rolled to reflect the difficulty of a check, yet the rolls still maintain a bell-curved probability (SEE HERE for my previous description of this approach).

To be honest with you, I don't recall where I first heard about this method, but I think I initially read about it in an online forum a long time ago. At conventions I've seen a few other people use the method, but it doesn't seem to be common. Chris Kutalik mentioned that Rob Kuntz uses this method in his games, which got me to wondering how long this method has been around.

Well, now I know the answer is at least 34 years. I was browsing through some issues of the 70s U.K. fanzine Underworld Oracle the other night and I noticed in the first issue, from 1977, that there is a 3d6 Intelligence check described. Specifically, it is called for as a defense against a PC viewing an Apparition. I also recall seeing similar checks in later issues of UO as well.

Great! So d6 ability checks officially get the Old School Stamp of Approval and I won't have to worry about tearing up my OSR membership card anymore. Whew...

Here's the evidence:

YEAH! Found My 20+ Year Old Bag-O-Dice!

Over the last few weekends I've been helping my momma clear out her storage units in preparation for a big move. Some of the stuff I found included:

A bottle of human teeth
Two pistols
A sweet Witco owl
WWII Army Survival kit
1000+ NASA stock photos
A couple bags of human hair
A huge collection of Garbage Pail Kids cards
A 2-foot long slide rule in a belt scabbard
Mary Hartman! Mary Hartman! board game
My old dice bag!

Lords of light! I've been looking for this dice bag for years! My sweet momma made that little drawstring baggie for me when I was 9 or 10 years old. I lost track of the bag when I stopped playing RPGs in the late 80s, and subsequently built up another collection of dice which I use today. Here's what I found inside that old blue baggie:

This collection of dice has been frozen in time since the early/mid-1980s. They are mostly either TSR Dragon Dice or GameScience dice. A few observations and memories:

• That blue Dragon Dice d20 on top was my main rollah back in the day. It was the only d20 I had that actually went all the way up to 20.

• Most of my other d20s were Zocchi / GameScience dice that went to 0-9 twice, but they had a little "." or "+" next to some of the numbers to signify 11-20.

• No pip d6s. I liked the ones with the numbers - especially that groovy green one. I thought that spherical d6 was cool (got it in a trade), but I never used it.

• No d4s, although I distinctly remeber having a well-worn Carolina-blue Dragon Dice d4 and a yellow Holmes Basic Set d4. I guess they escaped from the bag along the way.

• Those blue and red d10s were from a separate Dragon Dice percentile set.

• That light red d6 was from an early printing (i.e. included dungeon geomorphs instead of Module B1) Holmes Basic Set I still have.

TSR's 1993 Wildspace Video Trailer: Spelljammer VHS Game!

Joethelawyer just posted the link to this. I found it to be so utterly amazing I just had to share it with you, my dear readers.

Apparently Wildspace was supposed to be a Spelljammer-based video game "cartridge". It seems that "cartridge" in this case meant VHS tape. Does anyone know anything more about this apparently abandoned venture?

 

UPDATE: Here's a picture of the Wildspace prototype game (from BGG - thanks to ze bulette for pointing this out!):

D&D is Totally Realistic. Example One.

Check out this article in today's N.Y. Times.

The sealed vaults under the 16th century Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala have yielded a major hall of GP, as described in these article excerpts:

"A court-ordered search of vaults beneath a south Indian temple has unearthed gold, jewels and statues worth an estimated $22 billion, government officials said Monday... Searchers have found bags of gold coins, diamonds and other jewels and solid-gold statues of gods and goddesses. On Monday, searchers started to unseal “Section B” of the vaults, a large space that was expected to reveal another sizable collection, said P. T. Chacko, the spokesman for the chief minister of Kerala, Oommen Chandy."

The temple looks suitably awesome too. It even has a "Cloak Room" at the entrance!

1903 Alice in Wonderland Movie

Like peeping into another dimension. The Cheshire Cat part is very weird...

Pictures of New Pathfinder Minis Released

Pictures of the four prepainted miniatures representing the pregenerated characters in the new Pathfinder Beginner Box have been released. The detail on these prepaints is absolutely stunning. Unfortunately the anime-influenced stylings of the minis are not much to my personal liking. Wizards that look like steroid-injecting professional wrestlers just don't quite fit into my world. I'll stick to my old lead for now... I dig magic users with pointy hats, thieves with lanterns, and hobbits with hash pipes.

Pathfinder Minis:

Old school Grenadier wizards with magic beards and cool hats (from DnDLead.com):

What Real Clerical Spell Scrolls Look Like. Ge'ez and Amharic Examples.

Here are some fascinating examples of real Ge'ez clerical scrolls from Ethiopia. They are currently on display at Elizabeth Street Fine Arts gallery in New York City. The gallery website has pictures and descriptions of several scrolls dating to the 19th century, although some extant scrolls date back to the 16th century. Most of the scrolls described on the website contain multiple spells related to protection and healing. It's striking to me how many of these spells are recognizable from our favorite fantasy roleplaying games. It's also interesting how many Ge'ez spells fit onto a single scroll.

Historical background from the website:

So called “Magic Scrolls” are long rolls of parchment, illuminated by talismanic and figurative images and texts, usually in Ge’ez (Ethiopian liturgical language), of protective prayers, invocations of secret names of God, or sometimes demons. They are produced and used for varied purposes, healing, protection from spells, exorcisms etc. Scrolls are referred to as “ya’ branna kitab”, “written on skin” in Amharic, “asmat” or “names” in Ge’ez or “ta’lsam”, “talisman” in Tigrinya.

Scrolls are made for a specific individual by  “dabtara” (an unordained “priest” who studied scriptures, singing and poetry, a practitioner of traditional medicine, magician) and are carried and used by that person extensively. They rarely survive through a few generations of use. The oldest known scroll is recently dated to16th century, while majority of great surviving scrolls date between late 18th to early 20th century, as do the scrolls in this exhibit.

Here are some magic scroll pictures. More thorough details, which I paraphrase here, are available at the original website:

Tigre magic scroll. Three sets of incantations: (1) "The Prayer or Legend of Susenyos, used for the protection of children and infants from illness, followed by an invocation of magical names for the protection of the scroll owner from demons.", (2) "prayers for protection from the demon Shätolay, blacksmiths, buda, etc.", (3) prayers against rheumatism and stomach ache.

Magic scroll contains: (1) Prayer of Susenyos, (2) Prayer for the “expulsion” of disease and the demon Shotalay", (3) prayer against the evil eye, (4) prayer against rheumatism and sciatica, (5) prayers against haemorrhage, (5) another prayer against demon Shotalay, (6) prayer against Zar Wellaj.

Gorgon scroll of Wälättä-Gabriel contains: (1) An invocation against unclean spirits, (2) prayer of saint Susenyos for keeping away sickness from babies sucking the breast of their mothers, story of Susenyos killing Werzelya, (3) names of God against Shotelay (4) names of God said by Mary against devils. ‘Yosamer, Armosadekél…’, (5) speech of Moses against barya, devils, people of Legion, (6) prayer of Susenyos, (7) prayer against belly pain, (8) prayer against side pain, (9) prayer for undoing bewitching, (10) prayer against the eye of Mejer and Tegrida, (11) prayer against the Evil eye, (12) salutation to Fanuel expeller of devils.