Ongoing Research
Updated:
May 29th, 2018
Artwork Reproductions. Mentioned
on the back page of early printings of the
Original D&D booklet
Men & Magic (as well as in
Strategic Review
#1), these were supposedly three sets of clear, 8 1/2" x 11"
reproductions of monster artwork, five monsters per set. According
to Dave Sutherland (an artist with TSR in the early days), the sets
were an idea of Tim Kask's (editor of
The Dragon magazine),
but were never actually produced. (Thanks to Keith Dalluhn for this
info). This research item is closed, but will remain here for
trivia purposes.
BX1 (or SX1) Islandia Campaign.
An unreleased module, based on previous modules by "The Companions",
and authored by William John Wheeler and Peter L. Rice
(the cover artist erred). TSR earmarked a stock # (9216) for it,
and cooked up a pre-production cover (shown here;
incidentally, it's the cover artwork from
Dragon #86).
Official mention of the module was made in the 1987 TSR Fall Catalog
(where the scan came from; thanks to Curt Gould): a supermodule (128
pages), comprised of four sections entitled "The Curse of Hareth", "Plague
of Terror", "Brotherhood of the Bolt", and "Street of Gems". It
was scheduled to be released in December of 1987.
TSR Worlds
issue #1 newsletter describes the module's campaign world of Islandia
(which was to be separated from the normal D&D world by "strange ocean
currents") having an emphasis on "limiting power", with character levels
maxing out at 10th level and magic items being hard to come by.
Of course, this "maxing out" feature is contradicted by the cover scan,
showing the module is for characters levels 10-14! This module
was never produced. Author John Wheeler states: "The campaign,
as written, WAS for low level characters. I believe the cover
art was a hurry-up job, and it had no relationship to anything inside.
Furthermore, the material I sold to TSR only included The Curse
on Hareth, Plague of Terror (highly edited), and Brotherhood of the
Bolt. It did NOT include Streets of Gems nor Gems for Death.
Also, Sacrifices to the Orc Lords was never more than sketched out,
though maps had been drawn and some adventure areas detailed.
No plot line had been developed when The Companions folded."
Contributor Tim Kindred, who was present during much of the design sessions
of the modules, relates that in order to create a realistic geographic
setting for the world, a topo map of the state of Maine was obtained,
and flooded to a depth of 500 meters. What remained became Islandia.
Module code BX1 should not be confused with
B/X1, the
code on the UK version of
B10 Night's Dark Terror. This research item is closed,
but will remain here for trivia purposes. (Thanks to Tim Kindred,
John Rateliff, Adam Shultz, and John Wheeler for help with this info).
City Geomorphs. We were pretty sure
that this actually existed... until several people failed to cough up
a scan. Those that did were confusing this rumored accessory with
Outdoor Geomorphs Set
One: Walled City. Legend has it that City Geomorphs
was released at a convention in West Chester, PA (Origins?) at the TSR
booth. Supposedly, it was similar in size and style to the
Dungeon Geomorphs,
i.e. blue print on cardstock, with two full geomorphic squares and a
semi-geomorphic rectangle on each sheet, at a scale of 1 square = 20
feet. There were sections with no wall, sections with square towered
walls, sections with round towered walls, a palace and a citadel.
It came with a sheet giving DMs hints on how to write up a city and
a list of possible city locations and occupations. Quite possibly,
City Geomorphs was a pre-publication version of the aforementioned
Outdoor Geomorphs. Due to the relative lack of
evidence, this research item is considered closed, but will remain
here for trivia purposes.
City of Brass modules. Rumor had
it that Robert Kuntz, one of the founding fathers of D&D, wrote a three-part
adventure for the 1987 DragonCon RPGA tournament. The adventure
was The City of Brass, and the three parts were
To the City of Brass (available in
our Library section), Within the City
of Brass, and Beneath the City of Brass. The actual
tournament module used was To the City of Brass; the latter two
segments were never created. (Thanks to Erik Mona and Robert Kuntz for
this info). This research item is closed, but will remain here
for trivia purposes.
DA5 City of Blackmoor. See below, Mystara vaporware. This research item is closed, but will
remain here for trivia purposes.
Daystar West Eye of the Dragon. Another
Daystar West module, Eye of the Dragon, was planned but never
produced. The Hickmans did, however, run off five hundred copies
of the planned cover, which put them in a significant financial hole
-- prompting them to make arrangements with TSR for the sale of
Pharaoh,
Rahasia, and
Ravenloft. The
Hickmans apparently still have all copies of this module cover in storage
at their home. Thanks to David Smith for this info. We
recently obtained a scan of the cover (thanks to Jeff Imrie), which you can view
here. Along with the scan is this
descriptive text: "Characters level 5-6. 'Returning from the 5
Years War, they found the gates of their castle barred against
them... and the enemy within.' Armed with a 5 year old,
outmoded map, players must not only deal with the changes in the
tower itself but unmask the traitor from among themselves through a
web of lies and deceit. A game of characterization, referees
play a myriad of characters, both good and evil, for the players to
evaluate in their attempt to take control." The cover and this text is all that
was produced for the module; some of the ideas Hickman had for it
were eventually rolled into what was to become
DragonLance. Update:
in 2014, a group of collectors pooled funds and convinced Tracy
Hickman to produce a limited-edition version of Eye of the
Dragon based on his original rule notes, with each copy
bound with one of the original covers. The current agreement
is that this module will not be reprinted beyond the copies in the
initial run. This
research item is closed, but will remain here for trivia purposes.
Daystar West Vampyr. An individual
contacted us concerning the rarity and worth of three Daystar West modules
that he allegedly possesses:
Pharaoh,
Rahasia, and "Vampyr".
This individual further stated that he used to game with Daystar West
founder Tracy Hickman back in the early 1980's, and that these modules
were passed out to members of that group. Never having heard of
Vampyr, we requested some additional information about it.
The individual has not responded. Author Tracy Hickman has confirmed
that the preliminary draft of
I6 Ravenloft was indeed
entitled Vampyr, but denies that it was ever published.
He states specifically, "Vampyr was still in design stage when
I took my job at TSR and the sale of that uncompleted adventure helped
finance our relocation." If copies exist, they are most likely
only the handful passed out to Hickman's gaming group. In issue
#250 of Dragon,
Hickman is quoted as saying, "Vampyr was tested every Halloween
for five years before it was printed (as Ravenloft)." From contributor Scott Brand:
"Vampyr was a homegrown D&D adventure the Hickmans ran around Halloween. It
was likely handwritten and hand drawn. It is unlikely if not impossible
that anyone has a copy of that besides the Hickmans. At some point prior
to TSR, the Hickmans did consider releasing a production version of Vampyr
under the Daystar Nightventures label similar to Rahasia and Pharaoh. This
never happened. Tracy started working for TSR. After Pharaoh and Rahasia
were released with TSR, Laura and Tracy proposed releasing Vampyr with TSR. TSR agreed. Now this is where the Hickman memories get a bit fuzzy. They
know that they proposed Vampyr to TSR but are unsure when the name was
changed to Ravenloft. They believe it was very early on. I have copies of
the original proposed sketches for the Ravenloft Castle, floor plans, and
area map which are labeled Vampyr. I also have a tractor feed TSR
preproduction copy of Ravenloft that is labeled "Ravenloft" on the document.
The Hickmans believe there is an archive pre-production and possibly
handwritten version of Vampyr in the BYU archives. That is the only
version of Vampyr that they believe might exist. My copies of the Vampyr
sketches would be one of the few surviving items outside of the BYU
archives." FoulFoot note: the archives at BYU have been examined, and a Vampyr manuscript is not among them. Vampyr should not
be confused with "Vampyre", a microgame released by TSR in 1981.
This research item is closed, but will remain here for trivia
purposes.
G1-4 Revolt of the Giants. The 1986 TSR catalog lists
this as an upcoming module, which obviously never came to fruition.
From the catalog, this description: "Continuing the saga begun in
T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil and A1-4 Scourge of the Slave
Lords, this incredible supermodule takes the players to new
heights of excitement... and danger! This adventure combines
the famous 'G-series' adventures, now completely revised and
expanded, plus never-before-seen adventures that feature all the
different types of giants from the Monster Manual. A
high-level adventure for character levels 12-15."
The stock number assigned to it (9179) was eventually re-assigned to
GDQ1-7 Queen of the Spiders.
Anyone know the backstory behind its cancellation (or more specifically,
why did TSR decide to have tie-in module G4 created
in the first place, and then what made them change their minds)?
The mock-up cover scan of this module, featuring the cover artwork
from the Monster
Manual II, is here. Thanks to Mark Petrick
for help with this info, and to Christian R. for the scan.
This research item is closed, but will remain here for trivia
purposes.
Mystara vaporware. Quite a few new
Mystara products were on the drawing board when TSR decided to cancel
the entire campaign in late 1992. Visit this page for a full list. This research item is closed, but
will remain here for trivia purposes.
Wasp Nest: City State of Stoink. A
module by Gary Gygax that was apparently on the verge of publication
when Gygax had his falling-out with TSR management, and the project
was yanked. The module was never published in any form.
This research item is closed, but will remain here for trivia purposes.
WG7 Shadowlands. From the Summer
1986 Mail Order Hobby Shop catalog: "A high-level module set in
the World of Greyhawk. Journey to the perilous Plane of Shadow
to rescue Princess Esterilla and confront the master of the plane...
where you find yourself an unexpected guest at a wedding where the guests
include a lizardman, a catlord, and a mistress of illusion!".
Assigned TSR stock #9184. Gary Gygax and Skip Williams were collaborating
on the project, but it was shelved due to Gygax's lawsuit with TSR.
Gygax has since stated that while
Wizards of the Coast has
given permission to have the module published, the fact that it will
be produced "on spec" (no contract nor advance payment), makes it unlikely
that he or Skip will be undertaking the project anytime soon.
The original mention of it is in
Dragon Magazine
#37, page 10, where it's called "Shadowland".
The mock-up cover scan of this module, featuring the cover artwork
from
Dragon #58, is here. Thanks
to Christian R. for the scan. This research item is closed, but will
remain here for trivia purposes.
WGRX Ivid the Undying. Never released
to the public, this module was supposedly on the cusp of publication
when the project was yanked. A TSR Stock number (#9399) was assigned,
but later re-assigned to
WGR5 Iuz the Evil.
The text of Ivid the Undying was released by Wizards of the Coast
and is freely distributable (and an extensively re-worked and re-formatted
version is available for download in our Library
section). A supposed cover scan of the module even surfaced (it
can be viewed here). The painting is by
Mark Nelson, though Nelson has stated that the image was used as interior
artwork in an issue of
Dragon magazine,
and was not used as a module cover. The scan is a clever forgery.
Mike Kline, the CEO of Gamer's Realm, recently informed us that the
he has written testimony from the "compiler" of the cover describing
how he made it. Erik Mona, editor of Dungeon magazine, states
that the true planned cover of Ivid the Undying was actually
painted by Jeff Easley, and appears as the cover of "Blood Enemies of
Cerelia," a late-era Birthright product. In fact, in a Jeff Easley
trading card set released by FPG in the mid/late 1990s, the "Blood Enemies"
cover art is actually called "Ivid the Undying." The artwork has
been used as a mock cover on the module version available for download
in the Library
section. This research item is closed, but
will remain here for trivia purposes.
Believe it or not, we don't know everything
there is to know about this hobby! While we actively search out additional
information on anything listed on The Acaeum, we're especially interested
in learning about the items below. If you know something we don't,
please write to us. Even a seemingly
insignificant tidbit is important. (Open research items are identified
with a bullet and red text).
