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Maanzecorian
In the '' Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, illithids (commonly known as mind flayers) are monstrous humanoid ''aberrations'' with psionic powers. In a typical '' Dungeons & Dragons'' campaign setting, they live in the moist caverns and cities of the enormous Underdark. Illithids believe themselves to be the dominant species of the multiverse and use other intelligent creatures as thralls, slaves, and chattel. Illithids are well known for making thralls out of other intelligent creatures, as well as feasting on their brains. Publication history Mind flayers were created by Gary Gygax, who has said that one of his inspirations for them was the cover painting of the Titus Crow book ''The Burrowers Beneath'' by Brian Lumley. Tim Kirk's cover art on the book, then in its first printing, depicted only the tentacles of the titular burrowers, the Chthonians. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (1974–1976) Mind flayers first appeared in the official newsletter of TSR, ''The St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lawful Evil
In the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game, alignment is a categorization of the ethical and moral perspective of player characters, non-player characters, and creatures. Most versions of the game feature a system in which players make two choices for characters. One is the character's views on "law" versus "chaos", the other on "good" versus "evil". The two axes allow for nine alignments in combination. Later editions of ''D&D'' have shifted away from tying alignment to specific game mechanics; instead, alignment is used as a roleplaying guide and does not need to be rigidly adhered to by the player. According to Ian Livingstone, alignment is "often criticized as being arbitrary and unreal, but... it works if played well and provides a useful structural framework on which not only characters but governments and worlds can be moulded." History ''D&D'' co-creator Gary Gygax credited the inspiration for the alignment system to the fantasy stories of Michael M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragon (magazine)
''Dragon'' is one of the two official magazines for source material for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game and associated products, along with ''Dungeon (magazine), Dungeon''. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, ''The Strategic Review''. The final printed issue was #359 in September 2007. Shortly after the last print issue shipped in mid-August 2007, Wizards of the Coast (part of Hasbro, Inc.), the publication's current copyright holder, relaunched ''Dragon'' as an online magazine, continuing on the numbering of the print edition. The last published issue was No. 430 in December 2013. A digital publication called ''Dragon+'', which replaces the ''Dragon'' magazine, launched in 2015. It is created by Dialect in collaboration with Wizards of the Coast, and its numbering system for issues started at No. 1. History TSR In 1975, TSR, Inc. began publishing ''The Strategic Review''. At the time ... [...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] |
Skip Williams
Ralph Williams, almost always referred to as Skip Williams, is an American game designer. He is married to Penny Williams, who is also involved with the games industry. He was the co-creator of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' 3rd Edition and the longtime author of the "Sage Advice" column for ''Dragon Magazine''. Career Born in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Williams was informally acquainted with many of the people who developed and influenced the original ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game, going to school with Gary Gygax's son Ernie and participating in a gaming group that Gary used to playtest some of the ''AD&D'' rules. Williams started out working as a part-time clerk in TSR's Dungeon Hobby Shop in 1976. Williams first worked for TSR in an administrative capacity, working as a cashier, in shipping, and doing various office tasks. Williams directed the Gen Con game fair from 1980-1983. Williams was laid off after a time but continued to work for TSR in a freelance role, performing odd jobs; it was i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonathan Tweet
Jonathan Tweet (born 1965) is an American game designer who has been involved in the development of the role-playing games ''Ars Magica'', ''Everway'', ''Over the Edge (game), Over the Edge'', ''Talislanta'', the third edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' and ''13th Age'', and the collectible miniatures game ''Dreamblade''. In 2015 Tweet released ''Grandmother Fish'', a full-color, full-sized book about evolution aimed at preschoolers. In 2018 Tweet released ''Clades'' and ''Clades Prehistoric'', two card games for children and adults which demonstrate the concept of a clade. Early life Native to Rock Island, Illinois, Tweet is the son of Roald Tweet, an Augustana College (Illinois), Augustana College professor emeritus and local historian, and Margaret Tweet. Jonathan Tweet started playing ''D&D'' in the 1970s, when his father gave him his first ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game. He then formed his own gaming group by recruiting classmates. Tweet graduated from Rock Island High School ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monte Cook
Monte Cook is an American professional tabletop role-playing game designer and writer, best known for his work on ''Dungeons & Dragons''. Role-playing industry career Early years Cook has been a professional game designer since 1988, working primarily on role-playing games. Much of his early work was for Iron Crown Enterprises as an editor and writer for the ''Rolemaster'' and ''Champions'' lines. For a time, Cook was the editor in charge of the "Campaign Classics" line of books for the ''Hero System'' and ''Rolemaster'' lines. Cook worked for Iron Crown Enterprises for four years; two as a freelancer and two as a full-time designer. During this period, Cook wrote the multi-genre setting ''Dark Space'' (1990), a fantasy/science-fiction/horror setting. Cook became the line editor for ''Hero System'', replacing Rob Bell, who left ICE in 1990. TSR Cook began working for TSR in 1992 as a freelancer: "writing a whole slew of stuff for the old Marvel game that never came out ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dawn Of The Overmind
Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's horizon. This morning twilight period will last until sunrise (when the Sun's upper limb breaks the horizon), when direct sunlight outshines the diffused light. Etymology "Dawn" derives from the Old English verb ''dagian'', "to become day". Types of dawn Dawn begins with the first sight of lightness in the morning, and continues until the Sun breaks the horizon. This morning twilight before sunrise is divided into three categories depending on the amount of sunlight that is present in the sky, which is determined by the angular distance of the centre of the Sun ( degrees below the horizon) in the morning. These categories are ''astronomical'', ''nautical'', and ''civil dawn''. Astronomical dawn Astronomical dawn begins when the Sun is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruce Cordell
Bruce Robert Cordell (born 1968) is an American author of roleplaying games and fantasy novels. He has worked on ''Dungeons & Dragons'' games for Wizards of the Coast. He won the Origins Award for ''Return to the Tomb of Horrors'' and has also won several ENnies. He lives in Seattle. Early life and education Bruce Cordell played ''Dungeons & Dragons'' as a youth, and even recalled playing the original ''Tomb of Horrors'' adventure with future fellow game designer Monte Cook when they were in high school together. Cordell was a wrestler and a debater, and also earned a degree in biology from the University of Colorado. Cordell once worked in the biopharmaceutical industry, where he learned to synthesize DNA. Roleplaying work Cordell worked on freelance game design while working in the scientific field, and was eventually hired as a full-time game designer by TSR in 1995. Cordell created the Far Realm for the adventure ''The Gates of Firestorm Peak'' (1996). He authored the Sea D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roper (Dungeons & Dragons)
This is the list of ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd edition Monsters in Dungeons & Dragons, monsters, an important element of that role-playing game. This list only includes monsters from official Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition, ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd Edition supplements published by TSR, Inc. or Wizards of the Coast, not licensed or unlicensed third-party products such as video games or unlicensed ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd Edition manuals. __TOC__ Monsters in the 2nd edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' The second edition of the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' game featured both a higher number of books of monsters and more extensive monster descriptions than both earlier and later editions, with usually one page in length. Next to a description, monster entries in this edition contained standardized sections covering combat, their habit and society, and their role in the eco-system. While later editions gave the various creatures all the A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Winter
Steve Winter (born December 8, 1957) is an American game designer who worked on numerous products for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, which was originally published by TSR and later Wizards of the Coast. Early life Winter was born in Dubuque, Iowa on December 8, 1957. Winter attended Catholic school for grade school and high school, and had two years of Catholic college before he transferred to Iowa State University at Ames. “A nun introduced me to the works of J. R. R. Tolkien in high school ... Previously, I had been mostly into historical novels and military history. For the next several years, I read all the fantasy I could get my hands on — but I didn’t enjoy very much of it. I couldn’t find anything with the same sense of humor and style as Tolkien. I also read a lot of science fiction.” In 1978, while attending college, Winter worked part-time at a department store which carried a few wargames in its small games department. He began play ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Complete Psionics Handbook
''The Complete Psionics Handbook'' is a supplemental rulebook for the 2nd edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, published in 1991 by TSR, Inc. Contents With ''The Complete Psionics Handbook'', psionics in the ''AD&D'' game became the domain of an entirely new class, the psionicist. The psionicist's skills are based on the Wisdom and Constitution ability scores, and while humans can attain higher levels of expertise, all races are eligible for the class. Characters of chaotic alignment are not allowed to become psionicists, with the rationale being that volatile chaotic characters lack the discipline required to focus their mental energies. Psionic powers are assigned to six disciplines, which include clairsentience (divination), psychokinesis (animating and controlling existing objects and forces), psychometabolism (body-changing powers), psychoportation (teleportation variants), telepathy (mental communication and psychic attacks), and metapsioni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
