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Gorm Gulthyn
A dwarf, in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy roleplaying game, is a humanoid race, one of the primary races available for player characters. The idea for the ''D&D'' dwarf comes from the dwarves of European mythologies and J. R. R. Tolkien's novel ''The Lord of the Rings'' (1954-1955), and has been used in ''D&D'' and its predecessor ''Chainmail'' since the early 1970s. Variations from the standard dwarf archetype of a short and stout demihuman are commonly called subraces, of which there are more than a dozen across many different rule sets and campaign settings. History The concept of the dwarf comes from Norse and Teutonic mythology. In particular, the dwarves in the Germanic story ''The Ring of the Nibelungen'' and the Brothers Grimm fairy tale "Rumpelstiltskin" have been called "ancestors" of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' dwarves. Along with giants, dwarves were one of the first types of non-humans to be introduced into the ''Chainmail'' game, the forebear of ''D& ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DnD Dwarf
''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 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 wargames, with a variation of the 1971 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 wargaming by allowing each player to create their own character to play instead of a military formation. These characters embark upon adventures within a fantasy setting. A Dungeon Master (DM) serves as the game's referee and storyteller, while maintaining the setting in which the ad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rumpelstiltskin
"Rumpelstiltskin" ( ; german: Rumpelstilzchen) is a German fairy tale. It was collected by the Brothers Grimm in the 1812 edition of ''Children's and Household Tales''. The story is about a little imp who spins straw into gold in exchange for a girl's firstborn child. Plot In order to appear superior, a miller brags to the king and people of the kingdom he lives in by claiming his daughter can spin straw into gold.Some versions make the miller's daughter blonde and describe the "straw-into-gold" claim as a careless boast the miller makes about the way his daughter's straw-like blond hair takes on a gold-like lustre when sunshine strikes it. The king calls for the girl, locks her up in a tower room filled with straw and a spinning wheel, and demands she spin the straw into gold by morning or he will have her killed.Other versions have the king threatening to lock her up in a dungeon forever, or to punish her father for lying. When she has given up all hope, a little imp-like man ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Player's Handbook
The ''Player's Handbook'' (spelled ''Players Handbook'' in first edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' (''AD&D'')) is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). It does not contain the complete set of rules for the game, and only includes rules for use by players of the game. Additional rules, for use by Dungeon Masters (DMs), who referee the game, can be found in the ''Dungeon Master's Guide''. Many optional rules, such as those governing extremely high-level players, and some of the more obscure spells, are found in other sources. Since the first edition, the ''Player's Handbook'' has contained tables and rules for creating characters, lists of the abilities of the different character classes, the properties and costs of equipment, descriptions of spells that magic-using character classes (such as wizards or clerics) can cast, and numerous other rules governing gameplay. Both the ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' and the ''Player's Handboo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
Several different editions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game have been produced since 1974. The current publisher of ''D&D'', Wizards of the Coast, produces new materials only for the most current edition of the game. However, many ''D&D'' fans continue to play older versions of the game and some third-party companies continue to publish materials compatible with these older editions. After the original edition of ''D&D'' was introduced in 1974, the game was split into two branches in 1977: the rules-light system of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' and the more complex, rules-heavy system of ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' (''AD&D''). The standard game was eventually expanded into a series of five box sets by the mid-1980s before being compiled and slightly revised in 1991 as the ''Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia''. Meanwhile, the 2nd edition of ''AD&D'' was published in 1989. In 2000 the two-branch split was ended when a new version was designated the 3r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set
The ''Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set'' is a set of rulebooks for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. First published in 1977, it saw a handful of revisions and reprintings. The first edition was written by J. Eric Holmes based on Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson's original work. Later editions were edited by Tom Moldvay, Frank Mentzer, Troy Denning, and Doug Stewart. The ''Basic Set'' details the essential concepts of the ''D&D'' game. It gives rules for character creation and advancement for player characters at beginning levels. It also includes information on how to play adventures inside dungeons for both players and the Dungeon Master. 1977 version The original ''Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set'' was published by TSR, Inc. in 1977. TSR hired outside writer John Eric Holmes to produce the ''Basic Set'' as an introductory version of the ''D&D'' game. It incorporates concepts from the original 1974 ''D&D'' boxed set plus the '' Supplement I: Greyhawk''. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Three Hearts And Three Lions
''Three Hearts and Three Lions'' is a 1961 fantasy novel by American writer Poul Anderson, expanded from a 1953 novella by Anderson which appeared in ''Fantasy & Science Fiction'' magazine. Plot Holger Carlsen is an American-trained Danish engineer who joins the Danish resistance to the Nazis in World War II. At the shore near Elsinore, he is among the group of resistance fighters trying to cover the escape to Sweden of an important scientist (evidently the nuclear physicist Niels Bohr). With a German force closing in, Carlsen is shot and suddenly finds himself transported to a parallel universe, a world in which Northern European legend is real. This world is divided between the forces of Chaos, inhabiting the "Middle World" (which includes Faerie), and the forces of Law based in the human world, which is in turn divided between the Holy Roman Empire and the Saracens. He finds the equipment and horse of a medieval knight waiting for him. The shield is emblazoned with three hear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poul Anderson
Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until the 21st century. Anderson wrote also historical novels. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards. Biography Poul Anderson was born on November 25, 1926, in Bristol, Pennsylvania to Scandinavian parents. Soon after his birth, his father, Anton Anderson relocated the family to Texas, where they lived for more than ten years. After Anton Anderson's death, his widow took the children to Denmark. The family returned to the United States after the beginning of World War II, settling eventually on a Minnesota farm. While he was an undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota, Anderson's first stories were published by editor John W. Campbell in the magazine ''Astounding Science Fiction'': "Tomorrow's Children" by Anderson and F. N. Waldrop in March 1947 and a sequel, "Chain of Logic" by Anderson alone, in July ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Character Race
Character race is a descriptor used to describe the various sapient species and beings that make up the setting in modern fantasy and science fiction. In many tabletop role-playing games and video games, players may choose to be one of these creatures when creating their player character (PC) or encounter them as a non-player character (NPC). "People" is to be taken in the broader sense, and may encompass ethnic groups, species, nationality or social groups. Overview Many fantasy stories and worlds refer to their main sapient humanoid creatures as races, rather than species in order to distinguish them from non-sapient creatures. J. R. R. Tolkien popularized the usage of the term in this context, in his legendarium (and particularly in ''The Lord of the Rings''), and the use of races in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing games further spread the label. Character race can refer to a fictitious species from a fictional universe, or a real people, especially in case ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dwarf (Middle-earth)
In the fantasy of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Dwarves are a race inhabiting Middle-earth, the central continent of Arda in an imagined mythological past. They are based on the dwarfs of Germanic myths who were small humanoids that lived in mountains, practising mining, metallurgy, blacksmithing and jewellery. Tolkien described them as tough, warlike, and lovers of stone and craftsmanship. Dwarves appear in his books ''The Hobbit'' (1937), ''The Lord of the Rings'' (1954–55), and the posthumously published ''The Silmarillion'' (1977), ''Unfinished Tales'' (1980), and ''The History of Middle-earth'' series (1983–96), the last three edited by his son Christopher Tolkien. Characteristics The medievalist Charles Moseley described the dwarves of Tolkien's legendarium as "Old Norse" in their names, their feuds, and their revenges. In the appendix on "Durin's Folk" in ''The Lord of the Rings'', Tolkien describes dwarves as: ''The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia'' considers Tolkie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon and a Fellow of Pembroke College, both at the University of Oxford. He then moved within the same university to become the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature and Fellow of Merton College, and held these positions from 1945 until his retirement in 1959. Tolkien was a close friend of C. S. Lewis, a co-member of the informal literary discussion group The Inklings. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 March 1972. After Tolkien's death, his son Christopher published a series of works based on his father's extensive notes and unpublished manuscripts, including ''The Silmarillion''. These, together with ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Compute (magazine)
''Compute!'' (), often stylized as ''COMPUTE!'', was an American home computer magazine that was published from 1979 to 1994. Its origins can be traced to 1978 in Len Lindsay's ''PET Gazette'', one of the first magazines for the Commodore PET computer. In its 1980s heyday ''Compute!'' covered all major platforms, and several single-platform spinoffs of the magazine were launched. The most successful of these was ''Compute!'s Gazette'', which catered to VIC-20 and Commodore 64 computer users. History ''Compute!''s original goal was to write about and publish programs for all of the computers that used some version of the MOS Technology 6502 CPU. It started out in 1979 with the Commodore PET, VIC-20, Atari 400/800, Apple II+, and some 6502-based computers one could build from kits, such as the Rockwell AIM 65, the KIM-1 by MOS Technology, and others from companies such as Ohio Scientific. Coverage of the kit computers and the Commodore PET were eventually dropped. The platforms ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
