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Cities Of Bone
''Cities of Bone'' is an accessory for the 2nd edition of the '' Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, published in 1994. Contents ''Cities of Bone'' is an Al-Qadim boxed set that includes six dungeon crawls, mostly portable anywhere in Zakhara, half for beginning characters and the rest for mid-to high levels. The text offers advice for creating a spooky atmosphere, and the historical reasons behind the construction of each dungeon. Half the text makes up the adventure, "Court of the Necromancers", where in the undead city of Ysawis, the player characters get involved in the intrigues of a couple of repugnant wizards and a senile lich. Publication history ''Cities of Bone'' was written by Steve Kurtz. Reception Allen Varney reviewed ''Cities of Bone'' for ''Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures ...
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Role-playing Game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting or through a process of structured decision-making regarding character development. Actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal role-playing game system, system of rules and guidelines. There are several forms of role-playing games. The original form, sometimes called the tabletop role-playing game (TRPG), is conducted through discussion, whereas in live action role-playing game, live action role-playing (LARP), players physically perform their characters' actions.(Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARPs can be viewed as forming a distinct category of RPG because of two unique features: (a) The players physically embody their characters, and (b) the game takes place in a physica ...
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TSR, Inc
TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had been unable to find a publisher for ''D&D'', a new type of game he and Dave Arneson were co-developing, so founded the new company with Kaye to self-publish their products. Needing financing to bring their new game to market, Gygax and Kaye brought in Brian Blume in December as an equal partner. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' is generally considered the first tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG), and established the genre. When Kaye died suddenly in 1975, the Tactical Studies Rules partnership restructured into TSR Hobbies, Inc. and accepted investment from Blume's father Melvin. With the popular ''D&D'' as its main product, TSR Hobbies became a major force in the games industry by the late 1970s. Melvin Blume eventually transferred his shares to his ...
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Boxed Set
A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands with an extremely long and successful career often have anthology or "essential" collections of their boxes of music released as box sets. These often include rare and never-before-released tracks. Some box sets collect previously released boxes of singles or albums by a music artist, and often collect the complete discography of an artist such as Pink Floyd's ''Oh, by the Way'' and ''Discovery'' sets. Sometimes bands release expanded versions of their most successful albums such as Pink Floyd's ''Immersion'' box set versions of their ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' (1973), ''Wish You Were Here'' (1975) and ''The Wall'' (1979) albums. Pink Floyd have also released ''The Early Years 1965–1972'' box set which features mostly unreleased mater ...
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Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules, Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR). It has been published by Wizards of the Coast (now a subsidiary of Hasbro) since 1997. The game was derived from miniature wargaming, miniature wargames, with a variation of the 1971 game Chainmail (game), ''Chainmail'' serving as the initial rule system. ''D&D'' publication is commonly recognized as the beginning of modern role-playing games and the role-playing game industry, and also deeply influenced video games, especially the role-playing video game genre. ''D&D'' departs from traditional wargame, wargaming by allowing each player to create their own Player character, character to play instead of a military formation. These characters embark upon adventures within a fantasy setting. A Dungeon Mas ...
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Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama. From the twentieth century, it has expanded further into various media, including film, television, graphic novels, manga, animations and video games. Fantasy is distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror fiction, horror by the respective absence of scientific or macabre themes, although these genres overlap. In popular culture, the fantasy genre predominantly features settings that emulate Earth, but with a sense of otherness. In its broadest sense, however, fantasy consists of works by many writers, artists, filmmakers, and musicians from ancient mythology, myths and legends to many recent and popular works. Traits Most fantasy uses magic (paranormal), magic or other supernatural elements as a ma ...
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Role-playing Game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting or through a process of structured decision-making regarding character development. Actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal role-playing game system, system of rules and guidelines. There are several forms of role-playing games. The original form, sometimes called the tabletop role-playing game (TRPG), is conducted through discussion, whereas in live action role-playing game, live action role-playing (LARP), players physically perform their characters' actions.(Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARPs can be viewed as forming a distinct category of RPG because of two unique features: (a) The players physically embody their characters, and (b) the game takes place in a physica ...
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Al-Qadim
Al-Qadim is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game which was developed by Jeff Grubb with Andria Hayday for TSR, Inc., and was first released in 1992. Al-Qadim uses ''One Thousand and One Nights'' as a theme and is set in the land of Zakhara, called the ''Land of Fate''. Thematically, the land of Zakhara is a blend of the historical Muslim Caliphates, the stories of legend, and a wealth of Hollywood cinematic history. Zakhara is a peninsula on the continent of Faerûn in the world of Toril, the locale of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, although Al-Qadim is designed to stand on its own or be added to any existing campaign setting. The basic campaign setting was divided between two game products: '' Al-Qadim: Arabian Adventures'', a sourcebook describing character creation rules, equipment, and spells unique to the setting, and '' Al-Qadim: Land of Fate'', a boxed set describing the land of Zakhara, with separate sourcebooks for the players an ...
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Zakhara
Abeir-Toril is the fictional planet that makes up the ''Forgotten Realms'' ''Dungeons & Dragons'' campaign setting, as well as the Al-Qadim and Maztica campaign settings and the 1st edition version of the Oriental Adventures campaign setting. The name means "cradle of life" in an archaic fictional language of the setting. It consists of various continents and islands, including Faerûn, Kara-Tur, Zakhara, Maztica, Osse, Anchorome and Katashaka, a sub-Saharan-like continent south of Maztica, where humanity appeared. Toril was originally the name of Jeff Grubb's personal campaign world before part of it was merged with Ed Greenwood's Forgotten Realms setting. Publishing history Toril was the name of Jeff Grubb's campaign world, and it was adopted as the name of the planet upon which the continent of Faerûn existed when he and Ed Greenwood were designing the original '' Forgotten Realms Boxed Set'' in 1987. Abeir- was added as a prefix to the planet's name so that it would b ...
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Player Character
A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not controlled by a player are called non-player characters (NPCs). The actions of non-player characters are typically handled by the game itself in video games, or according to rules followed by a gamemaster refereeing tabletop role-playing games. The player character functions as a fictional, alternate body for the player controlling the character. Video games typically have one player character for each person playing the game. Some games, such as multiplayer online battle arena, hero shooter, and fighting games, offer a group of player characters for the player to choose from, allowing the player to control one of them at a time. Where more than one player character is available, the characters may have distinctive abilities and differing styles ...
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Lich (Dungeons & Dragons)
The lich is an undead creature found in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. Liches are spellcasters who seek to defy death by magical means. The term derives from ''lich'', an archaic term for a corpse. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' co-creator Gary Gygax stated that he based the description of a lich included in the game on the short story "The Sword of the Sorcerer" (1969) by Gardner Fox. Publication history The lich was one of the earliest creatures introduced in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (1974–1976) For the original ''D&D'' rule set, the lich was introduced in its first supplement, '' Greyhawk'' (1975). It is described simply as a skeletal monster that was formerly a magic-user or a magic-user/cleric in life and retains those abilities, able to send lower-level characters fleeing in fear. The lich's interaction with the Psionics rules and the iconic lich Vecna were described in ''Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardr ...
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Steve Kurtz (game Designer)
Steve Kurtz is an American artist and co-founder of the art collective Critical Art Ensemble (CAE). His work with CAE is considered pioneering in the areas of politically engaged art, interventionist practices, and cultural research and action in the field of biotechnology and ecological struggle. He is also a writer and educator. Kurtz's arrest in 2004 for suspected “bioterrorism” is the subject of a film, ''Strange Culture'', by Lynn Hershman Leeson, and served as inspiration for the novel ''Orfeo'' by Richard Powers. Life and work Kurtz is a founding member of the award-winning art and theater collective Critical Art Ensemble (CAE). Since its formation in 1987 in Tallahassee, Florida, CAE has been frequently invited to exhibit and perform projects examining issues surrounding information, communications and bio-technologies by museums and other cultural institutions. These include the Whitney Museum and the New Museum in NYC; the Corcoran Museum in Washington D.C.; the ICA, ...
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Allen Varney
Allen Varney (born 1958) is an American writer and game designer. Varney has produced numerous books, role-playing game supplements, technical manuals, articles, reviews, columns, and stories, as well as the fantasy novel ''Cast of Fate'' ( TSR, 1996). Since the 1990s, he has worked primarily in computer games. Early life Varney was born in St. Louis, Missouri and was raised by his mother, Marcelene Varney. He graduated from Reno High School in 1976 and has a dual B.A. in English and history from the University of Nevada, Reno. Gaming career Roleplaying games Varney designed the game ''Necromancer'' (1983), which was published by Steve Jackson Games. Varney wrote ''Son of Toon'' (1986), the third supplement to the '' Toon'' RPG. From 1984 to 1986 he worked as Assistant Editor at Steve Jackson Games (with Warren Spector, then Editor-in-Chief) editing ''Space Gamer'' magazine. Warren Spector and Varney wrote the supplement '' Send in the Clones'' (1985) for the ''Paranoia'' role- ...
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