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Kender (Dragonlance)
Kender are a type of fantasy race first developed for the ''Dragonlance'' campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role playing game published by TSR, Inc. in 1984. The first kender character was created by Harold Johnson as a player character in a series of role-playing adventures co-authored by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis. Weis and Hickman's ''Dragonlance'' shared world novels introduced the kender to readers and players alike, largely through the character Tasslehoff Burrfoot, who became one of the main protagonists in the series. Tasslehoff first appeared in the ''Dragonlance'' adventure module DL1 ''Dragons of Despair'', published in March 1984; later that year, the kender's first literary appearance was in the novel ''Dragons of Autumn Twilight'', published in November 1984. The kender are often compared to notable diminutive humanoid peoples in other fantasy fiction, such as the hobbits of Middle-earth or halflings featured in ''Dungeons & Dragons'' camp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragonlance Tales II Cover
''Dragonlance'' is a shared universe created by Laura Hickman, Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived ''Dragonlance'' while driving in their car on the way to TSR for a job interview. Tracy Hickman met his future writing partner Margaret Weis at TSR, and they gathered a group of associates to play the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. The adventures during that game inspired a Dragonlance modules (DL series), series of gaming modules, a List of Dragonlance novels, series of novels, licensed products such as board games, and lead miniature figures. In 1984, TSR published the first ''Dragonlance'' game module, ''Dragons of Despair'', and the first novel, ''Dragons of Autumn Twilight''. The novel began the ''Dragonlance Chronicles, Chronicles'' trilogy, a core element of the ''Dragonlance'' world. While the authoring team of Tracy Hickman and Margaret We ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragons Of Despair
''Dragons of Despair'' is the first in a series of 16 ''Dragonlance'' adventures published by TSR, Inc. (TSR) between 1984 and 1988. It is the start of the first major story arc in the ''Dragonlance'' series of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') role-playing game modules, a series of ready-to-play adventures for use by Dungeon Masters in the game. This series provides a game version of the original ''Dragonlance'' storyline later told in the ''Dragonlance Chronicles'' trilogy of novels. This module corresponds to the events told in the first half of the novel ''Dragons of Autumn Twilight'' by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Its module code is DL1, which is used to designate it as the first part of the ''Dragonlance'' adventure series. Plot summary As with most ''D&D'' adventures, the exact storyline varies based on the actions that the game's players choose for their player characters (PCs), although a general course of action is assumed by the adventure. The story begins with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evil Hat Productions
Evil Hat Productions is a company that produces role-playing games and other tabletop games. Chief among them is the free indie RPG, ''Fate'', which has won numerous awards. History Fred Hicks had been working with Lydia Leong, Rob Donoghue, and others to run LARPs at AmberCon NorthWest starting in 1999, and came up with the name Evil Hat for themselves. While on a trip to Lake Tahoe, friends Hicks and Donoghue developed a new game based on a conversation about running another ''Amber'' game and fixing some problems with ''FUDGE''; the result was ''Fate'' which Hicks and Donoghue would publish under the name Evil Hat. Donoghue and Hicks released a complete first-edition of ''Fate'' through Yahoo! Groups (January 2003) then cleaned up the technical writing and slightly polished the system for a second edition (August 2003). Hicks and Donoghue began work on the licensed '' Dresden Files Roleplaying Game'' in 2004, but publication was held up because they decided to use ''Spir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Wick (game Designer)
John Wick is an American role-playing game designer best known for his creative contributions to the tabletop role playing games ''Legend of the Five Rings'' and '' 7th Sea''. He self-published ''Orkworld'' under the Wicked Press banner, and later co-founded the Wicked Dead Brewing Company with Jared Sorensen. His games under that company include ''Cat'', ''Schauermärchen'', ''Enemy Gods'', and ''Thirty''. He has won the Origins Award for Best Role-Playing Game and Best Collectible Card Game twice (for both the ''Legend of the Five Rings'' and '' 7th Sea'' role-playing games and collectible card games). He has also written for White Wolf, Inc., Pinnacle Entertainment Group, and worked for various video game companies, providing storyline and dialogue. He has written two regular online columns: The Game Designer's Journal (for ''The Gaming Outpost'') and Play Dirty (for ''Pyramid Magazine''). Legend of the Five Rings In 1995, Wick was a freelance writer living in Southern Californ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wizards Of The Coast
Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games. It is currently a subsidiary of Hasbro, which acquired the company in 1999. During a February 2021 reorganization at Hasbro, Wizards of the Coast became the lead part of the new "Wizards & Digital" division. Originally a role-playing game publisher, the company originated and popularized the collectible card game genre with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in the mid-1990s. It also acquired the popular ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game by buying TSR (company), TSR and increased its success by publishing the licensed ''Pokémon Trading Card Game''. The company's corporate headquarters are located in Renton, Washington, Renton, Washington (state), Washington, part of the Seattle metropolitan area. Wizards of the Coast publishes role-pl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kleptomania
Kleptomania is the inability to resist the urge to steal items, usually for reasons other than personal use or financial gain. First described in 1816, kleptomania is classified in psychiatry as an impulse control disorder. Some of the main characteristics of the disorder suggest that kleptomania could be an obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorder, but also share similarities with addictive and mood disorders. The disorder is frequently under-diagnosed and is regularly associated with other psychiatric disorders, particularly anxiety, eating disorders, alcohol and substance use. Patients with kleptomania are typically treated with therapies in other areas due to the comorbid grievances rather than issues directly related to kleptomania. Over the last 100 years, a shift from psychotherapeutic to psychopharmacological interventions for kleptomania has occurred. Pharmacological treatments using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), mood stabilizers and opioid recepto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hobbit
Hobbits are a fictional race of people in the novels of J. R. R. Tolkien. About half average human height, Tolkien presented hobbits as a variety of humanity, or close relatives thereof. Occasionally known as halflings in Tolkien's writings, they live barefooted, and dwell in homely underground houses which have windows, as they are typically built into the sides of hills. Their feet have naturally tough leathery soles (so they do not need shoes) and are covered on top with curly hair. Hobbits first appeared in the 1937 children's novel ''The Hobbit'', whose titular hobbit is the protagonist Bilbo Baggins, who is thrown into an unexpected adventure involving a dragon. In its sequel, ''The Lord of the Rings'', the hobbits Frodo Baggins, Sam Gamgee, Pippin Took, and Merry Brandybuck are primary characters who all play key roles in fighting to save their world ("Middle-earth") from evil. In ''The Hobbit'', hobbits live together in a small town called Hobbiton, which in ''The Lor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
One Ring
The One Ring, also called the Ruling Ring and Isildur's Bane, is a central plot element in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'' (1954–55). It first appeared in the earlier story ''The Hobbit'' (1937) as a magic ring that grants the wearer invisibility. Tolkien changed it into a malevolent Rings of Power, Ring of Power and re-wrote parts of ''The Hobbit'' to fit in with the expanded narrative. ''The Lord of the Rings'' describes the hobbit Frodo Baggins's quest to destroy the Ring. Critics have compared the story with the ring-based plot of Richard Wagner's opera cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen''; Tolkien denied any connection, but at the least, both men drew on the same mythology. Another source is Tolkien's analysis of Nodens, an obscure pagan god with a temple at Lydney Park, where he studied the Latin inscriptions, one containing a curse on the Ring of Silvianus, thief of a ring. Tolkien rejected the idea that the story was an allegory, saying that applicability t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bilbo Baggins
Bilbo Baggins is the title character and protagonist of J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 novel ''The Hobbit'', a supporting character in ''The Lord of the Rings'', and the fictional narrator (along with Frodo Baggins) of many of Tolkien's Middle-earth writings. The Hobbit is selected by the wizard Gandalf to help Thorin and his party of Dwarves to reclaim their ancestral home and treasure, which has been seized by the dragon Smaug. Bilbo sets out in ''The Hobbit'' timid and comfort-loving, and through his adventures grows to become a useful and resourceful member of the quest. Bilbo's way of life in the Shire, defined by features like the availability of tobacco and a postal service, recalls that of the English middle class during the Victorian to Edwardian eras. This is not compatible with the much older world of Dwarves and Elves. Tolkien appears to have based Bilbo on the designer William Morris's travels in Iceland; Morris liked his home comforts, but grew through his adventuro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rogue (Dungeons & Dragons)
The rogue or thief is one of the standard playable character classes in most editions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. A rogue is a versatile character, capable of sneaky combat and nimble tricks. The rogue is stealthy and dexterous, and in early editions was the only official base class from the ''Player's Handbook'' capable of finding and disarming traps and picking locks. The rogue also has the ability to "sneak attack" ("backstab" in previous editions) enemies who are caught off-guard or taken by surprise, inflicting extra damage. Publication history Creative origins The abilities of the thief class were drawn from various archetypes from history and myth, but clear debts from modern fantasy literature can be traced to characters such as J.R.R. Tolkien's Bilbo Baggins, Fritz Leiber's The Gray Mouser, and Jack Vance's Cugel the Clever. In his article "Jack Vance and the D&D Game", Gary Gygax stresses the influence that Vance's Cugel and also Zelaz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Halfling
Halflings are a fictional race found in some fantasy novels and games. They are often depicted as similar to humans except about half as tall, and are not quite as stocky as the similarly-sized dwarves. Similar to the depiction of hobbits in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, which are sometimes called halflings, they have slightly pointed ears, their feet are covered with curly hair with leathery soles, and they tend to be portrayed as stealthy and lucky. Etymology Originally, ''halfling'' comes from the Scots word ', meaning an awkward rustic teenager, who is neither man nor boy, and so half of both. Another word for ''halfling'' is ''hobbledehoy'' or ''hobby''. This usage of the word pre-dates both ''The Hobbit'' and ''Dungeons & Dragons''. Usage in fantasy fiction In ''The Lord of the Rings'', J. R. R. Tolkien occasionally used the term "halfling" to describe hobbits, since they are beings that are half the height of men. For instance, when the hobbit Pippin Took appears in a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is the human-inhabited world, that is, the central continent of the Earth, in Tolkien's imagined mythological past. Tolkien's most widely read works, ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings'', are set entirely in Middle-earth. "Middle-earth" has also become a short-hand term for Tolkien's legendarium, his large body of fantasy writings, and for the entirety of his fictional world. Middle-earth is the main continent of Earth (Arda) in an imaginary period of the Earth's past, ending with Tolkien's Third Age, about 6,000 years ago. Tolkien's tales of Middle-earth mostly focus on the north-west of the continent. This part of Middle-earth is suggestive of Europe, the north-west of the Old World, with the environs of the Shire reminiscent of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
