Deities & Demigods
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Legends & Lore | |||||
Deities & Demigods by James Ward with Robert Kuntz In the rec.games.frp.dnd FAQ, Aardy DeVarque notes: "The first printing
of Deities & Demigods included the mythoi of Cthulhu and Melnibone.
The ideas behind the Cthulhu mythos were in the public domain at that time,
but copyright on the Cthulhu books in print was owned by Arkham House, who
had licensed Chaosium to create a Cthulhu RPG based on those books.
TSR thought the public domain status allowed them to create game representations
of whatever Cthulhu creatures they desired, and so that mythos was added
to Deities & Demigods. TSR then contacted Michael Moorcock,
who gave permission for TSR to include the Melnibonean mythos in Deities
& Demigods. However, again, Chaosium had already arranged for a license
to create an Elric RPG. Legends & Lore has identical contents to Deities & Demigods;
the cover artwork was updated in-line with the other 1983 AD&D manuals,
and the title was changed to avoid potential conflicts with fundamentalist
Christian groups.
The printing descriptions below treat both manuals as simply different
printings of the same book (which they are).
First (1980): Entitled "Deities & Demigods"; cover
artwork by Erol Otus. Wizard logo. Contains 17 pantheons,
including the Chaosium-copyrighted Cthulhu and Melnibonean mythoi.
Chaosium is not thanked for these mythoi on the bottom of page
4. ISBN on back cover lower left and on spine. 144 pages.
(Thanks to James Kirby for help with this info). Second: Entitled "Deities & Demigods"; cover artwork
by Erol Otus. Wizard logo. Contains 17 pantheons, including
the Chaosium-copyrighted Cthulhu and Melnibonean mythoi. Chaosium
is thanked for these mythoi on the bottom of page 4, with a line reading
"Special thanks are also given to Chaosium, Inc. for permission to use
the material found in the Cthulhu Mythos and the Melnibonean Mythos."
ISBN on back cover lower left and on spine. 144 pages. Third: Entitled "Deities & Demigods"; cover artwork
by Erol Otus. Wizard logo. Contains only 15 pantheons (the
Cthulhu and Melnibone mythoi have been removed), but the back cover
of the manual still states "seventeen pantheons". Chaosium is
still thanked for them on page 4. ISBN on back cover lower left
and on spine. 128 pages. Fourth (1981): Entitled "Deities & Demigods";
cover artwork by Erol Otus. TSR Face logo. Contains 15 pantheons.
Colors are slightly shifted towards blue, as compared with the purples
of the first three printings (especially near the top of the cover).
Back of manual correctly states "fifteen pantheons", but the Chaosium
credit on page 4 is still there. ISBN and Product number on back
cover lower left and on spine. (Thanks to Scott Griffin for this info). Fourth Plus: Entitled "Deities & Demigods"; cover artwork
by Erol Otus. TSR Face logo. Contains 15 pantheons.
Colors are slightly shifted towards blue, as compared with the purples
of the first three printings (especially near the top of the cover).
Back of manual correctly states "fifteen pantheons", and the Chaosium
credit has now been removed from the bottom of page 4. ISBN and
Product number on back cover lower left and on spine. (Thanks to Kurt
Lupinsky for much of this info and the scan). Fifth (1984): Retitled "Legends & Lore"; artwork by
Jeff Easley (now with an orange spine). Credits on bottom of front
cover are two lines. Contents identical to Fourth Plus print. (Thanks
to John McCarthy for help with this info). Sixth (1987): Credits on bottom of front cover have
now been combined onto one line. States "6th Printing, December
1987" on copyright page. Otherwise identical to Fifth print.
(Thanks to Scott Fayer for this info). Seventh (1988): States "7th Printing, April 1988" on
copyright page. Otherwise identical to Sixth print. (Thanks
to Rick Blumer and Michael Deaton for this info). Eighth (1990): States "8th Printing, April 1990" on
copyright page. Otherwise identical to Sixth print. (Thanks
to Jason Parise for this info). Contrary to rumor, the first two printings of Deities & Demigods
were never recalled or "banned". They're far more common than most
people seem to believe; an estimated 10,000 - 15,000 copies of these prints
are still in circulation. However, due to the hype of the removed
pantheons, a First or Second printing currently fetches more than any other
AD&D hardcover manual (though recent prices have been falling).
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Deities & Demigods (1st - 3rd print) Deities & Demigods (4th - 4th+ print) Legends & Lore (5th print) Legends & Lore (6th-8th print) |