AD&D

 We picked up a collection of 1st and 3rd edition AD&D books this past weekend.  they are in really good condition and are out in the used section of D&D materials. 

Players Wanted

If you are looking for a RPG to start playing, we have notices for 3 games in the area. There is a 1st edition AD&D game starting up in the Carbondale area as well as a 5E game. Over in Murphysboro, someone is looking for players for a Marvel Multiverse RPG. 

In addition, the SIUC Strategic Gaming Society meets every Saturday in the Student Center Renaissance Room

D&D 2E

 We picked up some more AD&D 2e  as well as some decades old Palladium Books supplements for the Palladium RPG. More expensive  Items are  in our ebay store while books priced $30 or less are on the shelf in the used game section.

The Dungeoneer

The Dungeoner is/was the newsletter of the Knights of the Griffon, a RPGA sanctioned club to which a number of southern Illinois AD&D players belonged. Contents of this issue (January 1987) include a discussion of werewolf lore by Scott Thorne (back in the Blue Sky Games days), magic items by Bob Tottleben and Mike Tyler, the Samauri character class by Clyde Hall and a couple of pieces of fiction with no author given.
 

AD&D 2E Decks

 One of the more useful items TSR came out with for 2nd edtion AD&D were the boxes of cards for the various spell using classes. As the number of spells grew, it became handy for the plaeyrs to have cards listing the individual spells, componests, casting requirements (Though most people ignored them). If I remember correctly, TSR released 4 decks, one for wizards, one for clerics, one with magic items and one with psionic powers, likely the least used of the card sets. Strangely, despite demand, the company never did yelease a Deck of Many Things, save as an insert in an issue of either Dungeon or Dragon magazine.

1st Edition Combat Computer

Had a 1st edition Combat Computer come into the store over the weekend. This was a giveaway in Dragon #74 and is a cardboard dial for the DMs use when calculating to hit numbers for monsters. It figures in all relevant stats such as weapon bonus, class bonus, level adjustment etc. Not particularly useful for players who generally have all of their THACOs figured for their characters but very helpful for the DM who has to calculate lots of different THACOs.

$18,000 D&D Module

The Jade Hare, a D&D module from 1992, sold for over $18,000 on eBay on January 3. Before you go frantically searching through your closets looking for similar items:

1. This was mint in the original shinkwrapping
2. The starting bid was $19.99 so no one expected it to go for that much
3. This was a limited edition promotional module given out with purchases by the TSR Mail Order Hobby Shop.
4. Unlike most other TSR books and modules,  there was only one print run of the original adventure.
5. If you really want a copy, you can pick up one for $1.49 in PDF format.

RPG of the Week

Since we stock a whole lot of role playing games (RPGs) and sell very few of them (we sell 5 times as much D&D 5th edition per month as we do all other RPGs combines) we decided to start talking about one of them once a week in the hope of calling your (yes you) attention to some of the fine ones out there. We will also be doing this with some of the less popular boardgames we stock as well.

This week, we feature Castles & Crusades. This RPG dates back to the 3.0 D&D boom when dozens of companies brought out all sorts of RPG supplements for D&D under the OGL. Castles & Crusades is one of the very few companies (Paizo's Pathfinder RPG is another) to still survive from that era, the tagline being "Third edition rules, 1st edition feel." Troll Lord Games has always focused on recreating the style of adventures from the early days of D&D and AD&D, before there was a heavy emphasis on plot and campaign and adventures stood on their own, rather than linking together.

While characters have skills, character class is a major focus of C&C, much as it was in early AD&D and your character class defines what your character can do. If you like D&D 3.0 (or 3.5) or the play of Pathfinder, but Pathfinder has gotten too complex and materials for D&D 3.0 and 3.5 too hard to find (it is out of print after all), take a look at Castles and Crusades.

Blast from the Past from Goodman Games

Under license/ agreement from/with WOTC, Goodman Games will rerelease a number of classic first edition D&D/AD&D materials, both in the original format and updated for 5th edition play. This comes on the heels of the announced oversized reprint of the first 14 or so issues of the Judges' Guild Journal along with 3 early Judges' Guild adventures:  Tegel Manor, Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor and one other that I do not recall.  Price point on the JGJ reprint is $100. It was supposed to hit shelves later this month but due to some printing problems went back to the printer