[non-TSR] Mercury Games' Magic Touch Cards - found!

Posts: 2891 · Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2003 6:48 pm

Hi guys---

I posted this before the forums were hacked and crashed. Don't know if anyone recognized them, but I'll give it a whirl again.

In my copy of Chaosium's Thieves World box set, I have six non-TSR magic item cards. They're 3x5 with a generally poor-looking illustration on the front, sometimes with the name of the item; on the back is typed info about the item, in a dot-matrix computer font.

IIRC, my brother bought these at one of the Northeaster 1-3 conventions (yes, the same ones where I played "Treasures of the Dragon Queen") c.1982 or so.

Here are the card names and a brief description of each:

Ekok'karis (or, The Wind Through the Branches," a CE, bony broadsword which grants x-ray vision, and freezes bone joints of victims)
Fire Star (a seven-pointed shiruken with a sun image on it; it explodes into a fireball upon impact)
Holder and Summoner (a sheath with glove; it allows you to teleport the sword in the sheath into the glove's hand, and to teleport back to the sheath)
Breans, The Enchanted Fruit (a peach/tomato-like fruit with leaves behind it; it has different effects based on fruit color: earth direction, earth power, or earth protection)
The Ataes (Uh-Taz; a pair of book-end like ivory gates that destroy magical gates/portals)
Gem of Lore (a really atrocious image of a gemstone, it looks sort of fleshy, like a flesh golem gem....; it's sentient, acts like a sage)

These things ring a bell to anyone?

Posts: 69 · Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2003 10:19 pm

If the card looks like it was made from manilla paper, then it is probably from an Arduin set.

Ð

Posts: 2891 · Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2003 11:11 pm

Nope, it's white paper, and relatively light-weight.

Posts: 195 · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 12:26 am

My guess, and it is only a guess is they are Artifact Cards by DunDraCon Inc.

I do not own a set so I cannot verify.

Posts: 79 · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 9:45 am

I have two map books by DunDraCon - your description (and the date) rings a bell. I'll haul them out and see if they have a product listing or any other information in them that might pinpoint this company as the source.

Posts: 2891 · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 5:02 pm

Could be, but would DunDraCon products have appeared in New Brunswick, NJ, c. 1982-ish? I didn't move to CA until 2000 Wink

Posts: 539 · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 6:12 pm

I have a set of the DunDraCon Inc. Artifact Cards Set no. 1(c. 1978). They are printed on thin white card stock and have black ink pictures of items(maps, pouches, a pipe, a belt, mirror, book, etc.) with artists name and date. The artist is "KVCW" , probably Kate Wadey. The instructions state that it was up to the DM to come up with a name and description. All the cards are blank on the back. I hope this helps.

Posts: 195 · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 6:28 pm

I have City Modules by the same organization dated 1978.

http://www.mcduffskeep.net/rpgsfortrade/images/CityModules.jpg

I would have to research in my Dragon Magazines, but I think DunDraCon was held back east perhaps the NJ area...

Posts: 79 · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 7:59 pm

I've also got the City Modules by DunDraCon, along with the Referee Map Modules. Both are printed on thin white paper - looks like they were made with a typewriter.

A quick scan of "Heroic Worlds" didn't come up with anything either. There are some magic item cards from the late 70's or early 80's listed, but all the ones I saw are on cardstock.

For reference, they are:

Treasure Troves I - Cards of Power (the Companions, 1983)

New Magical and Technological Item Cards (Fantasy Art Enterprises/Erol Otus, 1979). These cards were single-sided though, which rules them out. Plus Erol's art is pretty easy to recognize.

You'd think that anything with a magical fruit would be memorable for the kitsch value alone...

Posts: 2891 · Posted: Sun May 22, 2005 6:35 pm

I've successfully identified this, and have a new non-TSR addition for Mercury Games: Mercury Games' Magic Touch Cards: A collection of new and different magic items for use with most F.R.P. games.

The "cover" for the pack of cards was a slip of paper cut to 3"x5" size; I found this with my brother's old pack of D&D characters while in NJ last weekend. The slip is lighter cardstock than the magic item cards themselves are (standard paper weight vs. index card weight).

So, Matthias, when you have time, do please add this to the list of Mercury Games stuff on your site Very Happy

I'm also retitling the thread, FYI from "[non-TSR] magic item 3"x5" cards: info sought!"