APPENDICES
1 Suggestions for Further Reading
There is an impressive body of support literature for Adventure gaming, as a visit to your local Games shop will demonstrate. The selection which follows is very much a product of my own interest in the field, and it should not be seen as even an attempt at selecting the "best" publications. However, the list is made up from those works which I've found of interest and value. There are probably over a hundred of equal worth, but at least this list should give you a starting point:
THROUGH DUNGEONS DEEP: A Fantasy Gamers' Handbook-Robert Plamondon (Reston Publishing Company, Inc., Reston, Virginia, 1982)
What is Dungeons and Dragons-John Butterfield, Philip Parker and David Honigmann (Penguin Books Ltd., Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England, 1982) [Dungeons and Dragons is the adventure game which was originated by TSR Hobbies Inc. The term is a registered trademark.]
Dicing with Dragons, an Introduction to Role-Playing Games-Ian Livingstone (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, Melbourne and Henley, 1982)
Fantasy Role-Playing Games-J. Eric Holmes (Hippocrene Books, Inc., New York, 1981)
As well as books, there are a number of game-playing aids which will help you in building the framework environment within which your Adventure will be enacted. Another good source of ideas is rule books for specific games. Among those which may help you are:
MONSTER AND TREASURE ASSORTMENT-TSR Games, POB 756, Lake Geneva, WI 53147, 1980, distributed by Random House, Inc. This publication, which comes in a variety of "sets" and "levels" is a great place for getting ideas for monster names and treasure descriptions.
DUNGEON GEOMORPHS-Also produced by TSR Games, the "geomorphs" are a number of rectangular and square map sections, which can be fitted together in an infinite variety of ways to form dungeon and cavern floor plans.
BOOK 0, AN INTRODUCTION TO TRAVELLER-Loren K. Wiseman (Games Designers' Workshop Inc., POB 1646, Bloomington, IL 61701). This is an example of the rule book I mentioned. Traveller is a science-fiction Adventure in the far future, and BOOK 0 is an introduction to the concepts of role-playing with specific attention to Traveller. As Book 0 points out, the "total amount of Traveller material available is staggering and growing all the time" (p. 11). Despite this, BOOK 0, BOOK 1, BOOK 2, and BOOK 3 are all you really need to play the game, and BOOK 0 is enough, by itself, to give you a taste for laying out Adventure programs in deepest space. Leaf through a copy at your Games shop, and you'll see how many great ideas it contains which you can apply to your own pro grams. Note that Traveller is a registered trademark.
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS boxed game sets are a good way to learn some of the possibilities of Adventure gaming. You can start (and stay, if you like) with the BASIC SET WITH INTRODUCTORY MODULE. This set typically contains two books, and a set of six dice, with various numbers of sides. The books are BASIC RULES, which set out the concepts of role-playing, and explain how characters are "rolled up," how their personalities are derived, how fights are sorted out, and many aspects of the Dungeon or Game Master's role.
As well as dice and BASIC RULES, the set contains a campaign background, THE KEEP ON THE BORDERLANDS. This comes with a great deal of information, including a series of maps, room and player information, and further details on fight resolution. I feel that the BASIC RULES boxed set is probably the best source of ideas you can get your hands on. It is also a very good way to achieve greater understanding of how role-playing games are developed and controlled.
WARNING: These sources of ideas are suggested, of course, only for your own use, to produce games for your own entertainment. You cannot incorporate copyright material into programs for public sale.
2 Random Place/Monster Names
I set my computer the relatively simple task of generating names for monsters. Here's the program I used:
10 REM CHARACTER NAME GENERATOR 20 RANDOMIZE VAL(RIGHT$(TIME$,2)) 30 DIM 2(5) 40 FOR T= 1 TO 5:READ Z(T):NEXT 50 FOR H = 1 TO 4 60 FOR T = 1 TO 4 + INT(RND(1)*4) 70 B = 0 80 A = 66 + INT(RND(1)*25) 90 IF RND(1)>.7 AND (A=69 OR A = 73 OR A = 79 OR A = 85) THEN 80 100 IF (T = 2 OR T = 5 OR T=7) THEN B= Z(INT(RND(1)*5)) 110 IF B<>0 THEN LPRINT CHR$(B);:GOTO 130 120 LPRINT CHR$(A); 130 NEXT T 140 LPRINT " "; 150 NEXT H 160 LPRINT 170 GOTO 50 180 DATA 65,69,73,79,85
And here are some (I got rid of the hopeless ones) of the results of running it, producing a number of names you might like to incorporate into your programs either as names of monsters or as mythical place names:
LAQH REBLEP IAMD TIGNEZA QOUHEXE PISBI OAKHO BIHLA GEDIE CISWAH VELN NEYH GOJUO PAWTOZI NAOJM MEDSA TEHOOVO GAMLO BEDO HEZRI MEZPO KISC MANMY KOMNOMO JELM LESH YXPHI VEDLE EANBENG YIQC DOXT FATGEKA BEZMAZI LIIYEX NIGRAP HOPNOG COLOAZ SALUENI NEYOKEE LOBIEBE POGWOR ROKVA POYNOZ GODWUR XEZKE JEBJO NEYMEO WOOF RECCI XEVFI MIDO MATWEO GOUL KEBGA CEXFAV JEXV ZAHNIL OIYYI FEBSEX ZONHIP JAPDANZ QINNAYP VEBXOI LOCQI POBLIP GOLJEB IERVO COER CIKWAB TEEQAFO ZARW FAHSEYA HOKM DIRI GEXNAC HEHKO XOEOPU BIRWAI YEQMIIE SAFWOLI FIDWIY PAWK DAHI COJJOLA VINPERO XITFO JEMR MOXKO TEYLENO LERE DOOKII VOCVOF ZIZS PAFXI YOXLO NISL RAJYOR WACNA YALDAR BIDBIF POLVO LYMC TERC WAFMOK XENTADN REZN WILTEG DINWOL GEYP CINQOCA QABYI WOKIA
3 Useful Addresses
Adventure Games Manufacturers, USA:
Adventure Games Inc., 871 Edgerton St., St. Paul, MN 55101
Attack Wargaming Association, 314 Edgley Ave., Glenside, PA 19038
Avalon Hill, 4517 Harford Road, Baltimore, MD 21214
Chaosium Inc., POB 6302, Albany, CA 94706
Command Perspectives, 3522 Polk Avenue, San Diego, CA 92104
Creative Wargamers Workshop. Inc., 330 East 6th Street, Suite 1E, New York, NY 10003
Excalibre Games, POB 29171, Brooklyn Center, MN 55429
Fantasy Games Unlimited, Inc., POB 182, Roslyn, NY 11576
Flying Buffalo Inc., POB 1467, Scottsdale, AZ 82852
Game Designers' Workshop, 203 North St., Normal, IL 61761
Gamescience, 10956 Pass Road, Gulfport, MA 39501
Grimoire Games, POB 4363, Berkeley, CA 94704
Heritage USA, POB 345125, Dallas, TX 75234
Hero Games, 425 Harbor Boulevard, Belmont, CA 94002
Imperium Publishing Co., POB 9854, Minneapolis, MN 55440
Infocom, Inc., 55 Wheeler St., Cambridge, MA 02138
Judges Guild (Task Force Games), 1165 N University, Decatur, IL 62526
Metagaming Concepts, POB 15346, Austin, TX 78761
Simulations Publications, Inc., 257 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010
TRS Hobbies, POB 110, Lake Geneva, WI 53147
Magazines
Adventure Gaming, Manzaak Publishing, Inc., POB 12291, Norwood, OH 45212
Alarums and Excursions, 396 South Alla Road, Los Angeles, CA 90060
Ares, Simulations Publications, Inc., 257 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010
The Dragon, TRS Periodicals, Inc., POB 110, Lake Geneva, WI 53147
Different Worlds, Chaosium, Inc., POB 6302, Albany, CA 94706
High Passage, FASA, POB 6930, Chicago, IL 60680
Interplay, Metagaming, POB 15346, Austin, TX 78761
The Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society, POB 432, Normal, IL 61761
The Judges Guild Journal/The Dungeoneer/Pegasus, Judges Guild, 1165 North University Ave., Decatur, IL 62526
Nexus, Task Force Games, 1110 North Fillmore, Amarillo, TX 79107
Sorcerer's Apprentice, Flying Buffalo,Inc., POB 1467, Scottsdale, AZ 85252
The Space Gamer, POB 18805, Austin, TX 78760
The Wild Hunt, 71 Beacon St., Arlington, MA 02174
Return to Table of Contents | Previous Chapter
