World Of Synnibarr Redux

Many moons ago it was mentioned that I had a copy of The World Of Synnibarr in my collection.

Now it seems it is potentially off to a good home.

The World Of Synnibarr is liberally derided by many. Having read, but never played the game, I admit my perspective is somewhat shallow.

I've heard vague reports that Raven McCracken's campaign was not unlike that of Dave Hargrave's.

But while Hargrave is hailed as a hero of self-publishing and gonzo D&D house-ruling, McCracken is mocked for his World Of Synnibarr setting.

Interestingly, one of the criticisms of World Of Synnibarr is this: "McCracken is, incidentally, addicted to the percentile dice roll, and not in the good Unknown Armies / Call of Cthulhu way; he'll use them for everything. You'll see more of this later."

Is McCracken's material that bad, or does he get unfair rap?Source URL: http://idontwanttobeanythingotherthanme.blogspot.com/search/label/dave%20hargrave
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Old School Resources: Dragon Tree Spell Book

Dave Hargrave wasn't the only one publishing gonzo, D&D-esque gaming materials in the late 70's and early 80's. In addition to the Arduin materials, Ben and Mary Ezzell of Dragon Tree Press were (and still are) publishing materials for their own fantasy setting, dubbed Delos (any similarity to the Greek island of Delos, and the Delian League is purely coincidental).



In addition to The Delian Book Of The Dead (which I previously reviewed), Dragon Tree Press published The Dragon Tree Spell Book ("the Spell Book"), which is a compendium of magic spells compatible with Dungeons and Dragons. First published in 1981, The Spell Book is 135 pages, contains 224 unique spells, and can still be purchased from Dragon Tree Press, for $12.


Some of the more interesting spells within The Spell Book include:

• "Weed-killer", this spell withers weeds -- handy for clearing out an overgrown area;


• "Andrea's Rambling Clew" -- the material component is a ball of yarn, which unrolls as it provides a trail towards your intended destination;


• "Gordian Knot" -- a spell for ensuring theives cannot untie a knot to raid your backpack or sack;


• "Snap, Crackle, Pop" -- a spell which creates tiny globules across a flat surface, which make loud popping sounds if walked upon;


• "Foghorn" -- allows a player to amplify her voice, so she can address large crowds;


• "Percival's Phosphorescence" -- enchanted items collect sunlight, and can thus be used as no-fire torches underground; and


• "Brother Bertram's Body Bag" -- a corpse placed within the body bag will cease to decay, useful when you want to resurrect someone but it will be several days before you can do so.
There are some interesting and useful spells in The Spell Book. But the real value to be derived from The Spell Book is within the first 27 pages.
Those first 27 pages provide a summary of Newton's Principia Arcana, an ancient tome that reveals the four types of magical mana, from which are derived five magic systems. The derived magic systems are:
• Memorization System -- similar to the Vancian system of spell-casting employed in Dungeons and Dragons;


• Local Mana System -- similar to the system used in D&D's Dark Sun setting, or Niven's "The Magic Goes Away", there is a certain amount of magic power within a given area, and spell-casters who use up the magic power in that area, must then move to another area in order to continue casting;


• Personal Mana System -- each spell caster has a certain amount of magical mana within himself, and can cast any spell until his personal mana is exhausted. Then he must eat and rest for a certain amount of time to restore his personal mana;


• Percentage and Fumble System -- magical essense is abundant, but hard to control. Spell casters can cast spells, but there is always a chance that a spell will backfire or result in some catastrophe; and


• Impromptu Magic System -- spell casters can make up any spell, but their chances are dependent on certain laws of spell casting. Those laws are identified in the Impromptu Magic System, and adherance to those laws affects the chance of spell success. This system is similar to DeCamp and Pratt's magic system, as described in The Compleat Enchanter.


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Phumble Phailure: Improper Use Of A d100

The introduction of platonic solids into gaming pre-dates Dungeons & Dragons. Romans were gambling using d20's long before Gygax et al conceived their use as random number generators for fantasy role-playing games.

I like the platonic solids: d4, d6, d8, d12, d20. My favorite? The d12, partly because it gets so little play at the game-table --and is thus the red-headed step-child of the number-generator family -- but also because I made a d12 out of paper, long before I knew anything about D&D, in some elementary-school craft project, to which I pasted pictures of 12 influential people -- what their achievements were, I can no longer recall.

I'm not a big fan of either the d10 or d100. Oh, they are useful, if uninspiring, dice. But the d100, in particular, seems over-used to me. The d100 often gets used, when a d20 would suffice.

Take, for example, Dave Hargrave's Magical Phumble Chart, from Page 18 of The Lost Arduin Grimoire IV. The table has 13 magical phumble entries. Except for two (4% and 1%), each magic phumble entry has a 5, 10, or 15% chance of occuring. A little pet peeve of mine, but if each entry has a probability that can be expressed as a multiple of 5%, then a d20 will work equally well.

I know some people have a fetish for the d100. But i'm a big fan of economy, whether it be in my written communications, or the dice employed in my role-playing game.Source URL: http://idontwanttobeanythingotherthanme.blogspot.com/search/label/dave%20hargrave
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The 13 (Hargravian) Commandments

I post this for no particular reason, other than to share Dave Hargrave's wisdom. These 13 Commandments, which are to be followed when a new player joins an existing campaign, are outlined in Hargrave's The Last Arduin Grimoire IV.



1. THOU SHALT BE RULES-PREPARED: Always be sure that you have ample time to read the different rules and understand just what major discrepancies in the new rules will have the most impact upon the character you will be playing.


2. THOU SHALT BE PROACTIVE WITH THE GM: Be sure to take at least a few minutes time to spend with the Game Master before the game so that you can have all of your questions concerning rules differences answered at the source.


3. THOU SHALT BE FLEXIBLE: Be sure to give the GM ample time to read over your character sheet so he can tell you what changes, if any, must be made to your character in order to be compatible with the GMs style of game play.


4. THOU SHALT BE TRANSPARENT: Let the GM also peruse your magical items, spells and other special abilities/powers so that he will not be surprised in the middle of a melee with an unfamiliar device or such. Most GMs react to such surprises quite simply, by nullifying whatever it was you pulled out of your bag of special tricks.


5. THOU SHALT INTERVIEW THE EXISTING PLAYERS: Try to find time to converse with the other people who have played/are playing in the GMs game so you can get a feel for them and just what the GM's game, world and style of play is like. If it appears to you, after such discussions, that this is the kind 0f game you might have a problem with, then for heaven's sake reconsider your participation.


6. THOU SHALT KNOW THY CHARACTER'S ABILITIES: Be sure that you are totally familiar with everything about your character before the game begins. In the middle of a raging battle is not the time to dig out a rule book to determine just what your character's spell effect is.


7. THOU SHALT BRING THY GAMING STUFF: Bring all the equipment that is necessary for play in the game. Different games occasionally require differently numbered dice and so on. If the GM wants all characters to be represented by a suitable miniature figure, have what is needed and do not borrow from the other players or GM.


8. THOU SHALT NOT BE DISRUPTIVE: Ask questions during the game but choose the appropriate time so as not to disrupt the play, if at all possible. Better yet, ask a player first, and only if he cannot help you, the GM.


9. THOU SHALT RESPECT THE FLOW OF THE GAME: If the game is touted as "many" hours in probable duration, come prepared with a snack that can be eaten where you sit. Don't expect to be allowed to saunter away to eat your dinner when-ever you feel like it.


10. THOU SHALT SHARE WITH THY COMRADES: It never hurts to bring a snack to share with your new-found friends. Friendliness and a willingness to share is an utter necessity if you are to enjoy the new experience to the fullest.


11. THOU SHALT BE RESPECTFUL: Do not be critical of rules or GM decisions in the new game. That's one way to cut your character's survival chances to nearly zero. Be open and receptive to new ideas, even if you think they stink. Just keep those thoughts to yourself, during the game. Afterwards, you must decide whether the new game is one in which you want to continue playing. If it is, then politely discover, after the game, why a certain situation was adjudicated the way it was. Who knows, your polite inquiry might get the GM to reconsider the ruling in question. It does happen ... if you are polite and reasoned about it.


12. THOU SHALT BE A TEAM PLAYER: Don't denigrate the situations or monsters you may encounter by comparing them to tougher or better or more unique situations in your games. No GM likes to hear people denigrating him. Besides, the other players will probably lynch you on the spot because they know that such remarks will cause most GMs to redouble the lethality of their play from that point forward.


13. THOU SHALT BE HUMBLE: Don't try to be a know-it-all or act like there is no situation or monster than you haven't seen, can't handle and so on.
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Playing Dead Characters: Delian Book Of The Dead

All this talk of Arduin over at Jeff's Gameblog has me thinking about another set of old-school, gonzo, D&D-compatible rulebooks : The World Of Delos.



Ben & Mary Ezzell wrote The World Of Delos game supplements in the 1980's, and dedicated their "Planes of the Afterlife" section of The Delian Book of the Dead to Arduin's author, Dave Hargrave.


The cover art of The Delian Book Of The Dead ("the Dead") is by Roland Brown, who also provided the cover and interior art for Arduin's The Lost Grimoire IV. The cover of the Dead shows a deceased Amazon, heavily armored, lying upon a funeral bier, attended to by the Grim Reaper, as her spirit slowly rises from her body.


The 145 pages of the Dead cover a lot of novel role-playing territory, as does the entire World Of Delos book series. The Dead provides rules for a new class, the Archaeologist (intended to emulate Indiana Jones, Rick O'Connell and other egyptologist-type characters from film and literature), a long section of helpful tips and adventure locations for prospective tomb-robbers, six pages of magical doors, windows and mirrors to delight, confuse and confound your players, 10 pages of gems, including a description of the possible magical uses for each, several pages on unique magic arms and armour whose benefits and drawbacks go beyond mere combat adjustments, potions and poisons of uncommon use and effect, a long chapter on the variety and ecology of Delian spiders, a section on the acquisition, care and feeding of strange pets, and an adventure that takes you through several "Planes of the Afterlife" in search of an artifact that may lead the adventurers to a most singular conclusion.


In addition, the Dead provides a new character class: Phantoms. Phantoms are former player characters, whose deaths came violently, suddenly, or prior to the completion of some important quest, and are thus unable to leave the prime material plane until their unfinished business is concluded.

I must admit, the idea of player characters as Phantoms has a certain allure. I am reminded of the old 1978 film, Heaven Can Wait, if in title only. In that film, the incomparable Warren Beatty plays a narcissistic and reckless football quarterback, whose guardian angel transports him to heaven before his time. Due to the mix-up, Beatty's spirit is sent back to Earth. Unlike the Phantom class, where he would exist as spirit, he is placed in the body of a wealthy, recently-murdered industrialist, until St. Peter can find a suitable replacement body for Beatty, with hilarious and sexy results.


The allure of the Phantom class is that it allows players to continue playing a favorite character, but at the same time honoring the old-school tradition that, once you're dead, you're dead.


The mechanics are relatively straight-forward. If a character dies, the player may choose to roll to see if there is sufficient purpose keeping her from ascending into the afterlife. She combines her Int, Wis, Level and prime Attribute, which is her base percentage chance to remain on the material plane. That score is modified by other variables, for example, whether the character was on an important quest before her passing, whether her belief system included an afterlife, whether her death was violent or sudden, and so on. If the player rolls percentile dice and the result is lower than the final number, her character can come back as a Phantom.


Phantoms lose all of their prior class abilities, and start as 1st level Phantoms, with their own experience table, and additional hit-points and special abilities gained at each subsequent level. Phantoms are invulnerable to normal attacks, although they are susceptible to magical weapon and spell attacks, and are doubly vulnerable to attacks from the undead. At first level, they are unable to impinge upon the prime material plane, other than being visible in darkness, and can only communicate telepathically. They recover hit points normally, but if the Phantom should ever be reduced to 0 hit points, the character immediately and unavoidably ascends to the afterlife. Some of the special abilities that are gained by higher level Phantoms include the power to become material, cause fright, telekenesis, teleaudience, detect poison, project cold, and control flames.


Part of the limitations of the class is that the Phantom must never stray from the purpose for which she remains on the material plane. For example, if the party was on an important quest when she died, the Phantom must continue towards that goal. If the party abandons the quest, the Phantom must continue on. As another example, perhaps the purpose of the Phantom is to protect her friends, Then if the friends die, she would ascend to the afterlife. Another purpose of the Phantom might be to avenge her own death. In that case, once her killer died, her purpose would be fulfilled and she would leave this world.


The chapter on Phantoms concludes with some suggested reading for playing and refereeing with this class: Blithe Spirit, by Noel Coward; Hamlet and MacBeth, by Shakespeare; Immortality Inc., by Robert Sheckly; Brief Candles and Happy Returns by Manning Coles; and Topper by Thorne Smith.
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Arduin's Experience Point System

The Arduin Grimoire is one of those rule sets that is hard to take seriously, and yet hard to dismiss. The Arduin Grimoire, Volume I -- the first of nine Arduin Grimoire volumes -- was introduced in 1977. The series chronicled the gonzo Dungeons and Dragons house-ruling of Dave Hargrave. The Arduin Grimoire is notable not only for its odd fusion of fantasy and sci-fi, and being the first published house-rules for Dungeons and Dragons, but also its early disagreement with the "experience points for gold" system employed in OD&D.

Hargrave had this to say about the awarding of experience points, in Volume I of his Arduin Grimoires:

"In the Arduin Universe, the ability to advance to higher levels is based on earned merit and not on the acquisition of treasure. Therefore, points are given for many reasons, but NOT for gold or other treasure. After all, it is the act of robbery, not the amount stolen, that gives the thief his experience." (page 2)

Hargrave had little to say, in the first Volume of the Arduin Grimoire, about experience for monsters killed. Presumably, he agreed with awarding experience for defeating monsters. However, he did provide an alternate experience points chart to replace the "experience points for gold" system, which I provide, below.

Death (with successful revival), reincarnation, curse changed into another type entity -- 400 xp

Being sole survivor of expedition, acquiring the mightiest of artifacts (Satan's own pitchfork, nuclear weapons, phasers, etc.) -- 375 xp

Defeating in single combat, demi-gods or major demons (above and beyond the normal points) -- 350 xp

Defeating in normal combat, any creature that is four times your size or is 20 hit dice or larger (whichever is greater) -- 325 xp

Acquiring a major artifact (machine gun, explosives, staff of black wizardry, wish rings with 5 or more wishes, etc.) -- 300 xp

Doing spells of tremendous magical import (the conjuring of major demon, using a gate spell, raising the dead fully and the like) -- 275 xp

Being cursed, acquiring a cursed item, dying but being regenerated back to life, using spells of major magical import (astral body, teleporting, prismatic wall, etc) -- 250 xp

Acquiring most staffs, major rods (lordly might), using a single wish, acquiring +5 weapons or armour, and doing heavy magic spells (wind walk, phase door, cure disease, raising the dead, regenerate manna points or limbs, etc) -- 225 xp

Acquiring items that are +4, magic items that are unusual (wands of wizardry, slaver's lash, etc), doing difficult spells like: limited wishes, all psychically draining one like: ESP and the like -- 200 xp

Acquiring +3 items, wands, most rings and amulets, and doing spells such as transmuting rock to mud, monster summoning and the like -- 175 xp

Being point man, acquiring +2 items, lesser rings, amulets, etc, doing spells like dimension door, deactivate traps, polymorph self, and the like -- 150 xp

Acquiring single or limited use items (single shot, spell storing rings, etc), +1 items, doing spells like: wizard eye, or throwing a thunderbolt that kills the B.E.M. just in time to save the party -- 125 xp

Being expedition leader, coming within one point of dying, acquiring potions (100 points per dose), scrolls (100 points per level/use), and for doing spells like: create food and water, mass invisibility, etc -- 100 xp

Being rear guard, doing simple detection spells -- 75 xp

Figuring out a trap, tripping one and taking damage, all lesser spell use (locks, knocks, winds) going over half damage, doing extra dangerous and uncalled for acts (checking for secret places, when you know there are traps, etc -- 50 xp

There's lots that can be said about Dave Hargraves alternate experience points system. At the higher levels, the experience points awards seem meager compared to the risks and accomplishments. 375 experience points for recovering Satan's own pitchfork? 300 experience points for acquiring the staff of black wizardry? Apparently Dave was pretty stingy with his experience awards.

On the other hand, there are some interesting observations here. Giving extra experience to the expedition leader, point man, and rear guard is a good idea. Experience for figuring out a trap -- assuming it was done with "player skill" -- is also appropriate. Experience points for magic spells cast is more problematic for me, since it is a character skill, and players already get experience for monsters killed by magic.

Other than slowing down the awarding of experience, all that the Arduin experience point system has done is to replace experience points for gold with experience points for magical treasure. If one can criticize xp for gold as being unrealistic, would the same criticism not apply to xp for magic items?Source URL: http://idontwanttobeanythingotherthanme.blogspot.com/search/label/dave%20hargrave
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The Arduin Grimoire As ODnD Supplement

Reading and reviewing Dragons at Dawn led me to reminisce about another rule set, that also held itself out as a complete game system, but was really best used as a supplement to original Dungeons and Dragons. That other rule set, is, of course, The Arduin Grimoire.

Much (but not enough) has been said about The Arduin Grimoire. Authored by Dave Hargrave, who sadly passed away in 1988 (at the age of 42), the first three Arduin Grimoires were published in 1977 and 1978, some three years after the release of original Dungeons and Dragons. Like Dragons at Dawn, the Arduin Grimoire provided a myriad of alternate and supplementary rules and campaign suggestions, but Arduin was infinitely more extensive and table-laden. The first three Grimoires -- The Arduin Grimoire, Welcome to Skull Tower, and The Runes of Doom -- were nearly 100 pages each: the later six Arduin volumes were even longer.

But unlike Dragons at Dawn, the Arduin Grimoire (at least the books I have had access to) was, to put it politely, of uneven quality. For every blinding insight or brilliant suggestion, you would encounter some text equally execrable. But Hargrave never gave up on even his ugliest creations, often pleading with his readers to give his ideas a try, as it was only in the crucible of a role-playing campaign that the true value of his creations would be revealed.

Although this set of books was, and still is, passed off as a complete game system, it was born from Dave Hargrave's experience running original Dungeons and Dragons. It could be said, then, that The Arduin Grimoire is an example of OD&D house-ruling run-amok. A train-wreck perhaps, but a glorious one! While much of his material was largely derivative, there were some unique inventions sprinkled throughout his works, enough that many gamers considered his Arduin Grimoire to be part of the OD&D canon. TSR was not impressed with how close Hargrave hewed to their intellectual property, including explicit mentions to OD&D in his rulebooks, and famously slapped a cease & desist order on him. That resulted in the removal of any mentions of D&D in The Arduin Grimoire, although it probably did little to dampen its' sales. In some cases he simply whited out references to Dungeons and Dragons in his books, replacing those references with phrases such as "most often used ruleset".

The 12 black & white illustrations for the first Arduin Grimoire volume were created by Greg Espinoza and Michio Okimura. The above Greg Espinoza illustration appears on the back cover of the original Arduin Grimoire. I love Greg Espinoza's illustrations: there is a darkness, energy, and tension to them, absent from much of the modern art being produced for more recent versions of ye aulde game. It is rumored that the female in the above illustration first appeared top-less: even the intransigent Dave Hargrave was cowed into covering her nakedness in this, his second, censored edition. As for the fighter in the background, opening the chest of treasure, he was reportedly modelled after Clint Eastwood.

And in case you doubt my objectivity with regards Arduin, I am happy to quote from someone else that you may, given the circumstances, feel has little to gain from extolling Arduin's virtues and vices. Jonathan Tweet had this to say about Arduin:

"Arduin's appeal isn't in its elegance, its comprehensiveness, its game balance, or its presentation. It's the author's enthusiasm that counts. Hargrave loved running his Arduin campaign, and the books read like the campaign notes of a manic DM. He often refers to his own campaign and how he makes rulings, runs combat, handles treasure, etc. Hargrave's enthusiasm is contagious.

The good folks of Emperor's Choice have reprinted the Arduin trilogy, so this piece of RPG history is available again. They've reprinted a later edition from 1981 or so. It has references to Dungeons & Dragons edited out, and it has better art than the original. (The bare-breasted woman on the back cover, however, got a leather bra for the second edition.)"Source URL: http://idontwanttobeanythingotherthanme.blogspot.com/search/label/dave%20hargrave
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