''AC2 Combat Shield and Mini-Adventure'' is a 14-page accessory designed for the Basic Set and Expert Set of the ''

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 Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving 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 d ...

role-playing game. It was published in 1984 by

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 bee ...

and written by David Cook.

David Cook David Cook may refer to: Entertainment * David Cook (game designer) (active since 1980s), American game designer for TSR * David Cook (singer) (born 1982), winner of the seventh season of ''American Idol'' * David Cook (writer) (1940–2015), Briti ...

wrote ''Combat Shield and Mini-Adventure'' as a supplement with two purposes in mind. First it included a screen to hide a

Gamemaster A gamemaster (GM; also known as game master, game manager, game moderator, referee, or storyteller) is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer role-playing game. They are m ...

's material and dice rolls during the course of play and provide useful tables for quick reference. Secondly, a small adventure, ''The Treasure of the Hideous One'', came in the same supplement.

Combat Shield

This DM's screen contains tables for the Basic and Expert ''D&D'' rules. The Combat Shield in this supplement is a precursor to far more elaborate

GM screen A gamemaster's screen, also called a GM's screen, is a gaming accessory, usually made out of either cardboard or card stock, and is used by the gamemaster to hide all the relevant data related to a tabletop role-playing game session from the playe ...

s used today. It can be used with either/or the Basic or Expert set. It included tables for saving throws, thief abilities,

undead The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if alive. Most commonly the term refers to corporeal forms of formerly-alive humans, such as mummies, vampires, and zombies, who have been reanimated by supe ...

turning, to-hit rolls, the combat sequence, monster experience tables, and player experience tables among other items.

The Treasure of the Hideous One

Plot summary

This adventure follows along relatively traditional paths. The group of

player characters 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 control ...

finds a message that indicates a long hidden treasure lies somewhere in a swampy region. An expedition led by an intrepid explorer attempted to find the treasure but came to an untimely end. The group eventually fights their way through various enemies to secure the treasure and learn the fate of the original expedition. The module lists several possible treasures to choose as the final reward. Despite the shortness of the adventure it requires a fairly advanced party because of the presence of Rosentos the

Vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deat ...

Publication history

AC2 ''Combat Shield and Mini-Adventure'' was designed by

, with cover art by

Jeff Easley Jeff Easley (born 1954) is an oil painter who creates fantasy artwork for role-playing games, comics, and magazines, as well as non-fantasy commercial art. Early life Easley was born in Nicholasville, Kentucky in 1954. He spent time drawing as ...

, and was published by TSR in 1984 as a cardstock screen with an 8-page pamphlet. The ''10th Anniversary Dungeons & Dragons Collector's Set'' boxed set, published by TSR in 1984, included the rulebooks from the Basic, Expert, and Companion sets; modules AC2, AC3, B1, B2, and M1, Blizzard Pass;

Player Character Record Sheets ''Player Character Record Sheets'' is an accessory designed for the tabletop fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons''. Publication history Early years: 1974-1977 The first role-playing game published, ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (1974), did ...

; and dice; this set was limited to 1,000 copies, and was sold by mail and at

GenCon Gen Con is the largest tabletop game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playing ...

17.

Reception

Doug Cowie reviewed AC2 for ''

Imagine Imagine may refer to: * Imagination Music Albums * ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008 * ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002 * ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012 * ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971 ** ''Imagine: John Lennon' ...

'' magazine, giving it a positive review. He particularly praised the looks of the product, singling out the cover art as finally offering a credible visual of the game's monsters. Cowie liked the functionality of the referee screen, noting the sensible choice of tables and the effort to create a single "to-hit" table for all character classes. However, he found the latter "quite difficult to read". Cowie also faulted the screen's three-page player side for containing not just the excellent cover and one page worth of information but also one page of "hype". Cowie thought the mini-adventure "rather good", "original and carefully thought out". According to him, the adventure alone was worth the price of the product, with the screen a "reasonably useful" bonus.

References

External links

*
AC2 Combat Shield
an

at the TSR Archive. {{DEFAULTSORT:Combat Shield And Mini-Adventure Dungeons & Dragons modules Mystara Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1984