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Ceremorphosis
In the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, illithids (commonly known as mind flayers) are monstrous humanoid ''aberrations'' with psionic powers. In a typical ''Dungeons & Dragons'' campaign setting, they live in the moist caverns and cities of the enormous Underdark. Illithids believe themselves to be the dominant species of the multiverse and use other intelligent creatures as thralls, slaves, and chattel. Illithids are well known for making thralls out of other intelligent creatures, as well as feasting on their brains. Publication history Mind flayers were created by Gary Gygax, who said that one of his inspirations for them was the cover painting of the Titus Crow book ''The Burrowers Beneath'' by Brian Lumley. Tim Kirk's cover art on the book, then in its first printing, depicted only the tentacles of the titular burrowers, the Chthonians. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (1974–1976) Mind flayers first appeared in the official newsletter of TSR, ''The Strateg ...
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Editions Of Dungeons & Dragons
Several different editions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game have been produced since 1974. The current publisher of ''D&D'', Wizards of the Coast, produces new materials only for the most current edition of the game. However, many ''D&D'' fans continue to play older versions of the game and some third-party companies continue to publish materials compatible with these older editions. After the original edition of ''D&D'' was introduced in 1974, the game was split into two branches in 1977: the rules-light system of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' and the more complex, rules-heavy system of ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' (''AD&D''). The standard game was eventually expanded into a series of five box sets by the mid-1980s before being compiled and slightly revised in 1991 as the '' Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia''. Meanwhile, the 2nd edition of ''AD&D'' was published in 1989. In 2000 the two-branch split was ended when a new version was designated the 3 ...
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Evil Hat Productions
Evil Hat Productions is a company that produces role-playing games and other tabletop games. They are best known for the free indie RPG system ''Fate'', '' Blades in the Dark'', and '' Thirsty Sword Lesbians'', all of which have won multiple awards. History Fred Hicks had been working with Lydia Leong, Rob Donoghue, and others to run LARPs at AmberCon NorthWest starting in 1999, and came up with the name Evil Hat for themselves. While on a trip to Lake Tahoe, friends Hicks and Donoghue developed a new game based on a conversation about running another ''Amber'' game and fixing some problems with '' FUDGE''; the result was ''Fate'' which Hicks and Donoghue would publish under the name Evil Hat. Donoghue and Hicks released a complete first-edition of ''Fate'' through Yahoo! Groups (January 2003) then cleaned up the technical writing and slightly polished the system for a second edition (August 2003). Hicks and Donoghue began work on the licensed '' Dresden Files Roleplaying G ...
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The Illithiad
''The Illithiad'' is a 1998 role-playing game supplement published by TSR for ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons''. Plot summary ''The Illithiad'' is a supplement of information about mind flayers. Reviews *''InQuest'' #39 *'' Backstab'' #9 *''Casus Belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one bou ...'' #114 References {{DEFAULTSORT:Illithiad Dungeons & Dragons sourcebooks Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1998 ...
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Lich (Dungeons & Dragons)
The lich is an undead creature found in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. Liches are spellcasters who seek to defy death by magical means. The term derives from ''lich'', an archaic term for a corpse. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' co-creator Gary Gygax stated that he based the description of a lich included in the game on the short story "The Sword of the Sorcerer" (1969) by Gardner Fox. Publication history The lich was one of the earliest creatures introduced in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (1974–1976) For the original ''D&D'' rule set, the lich was introduced in its first supplement, ''Greyhawk'' (1975). It is described simply as a skeletal monster that was formerly a magic-user or a magic-user/cleric in life and retains those abilities, able to send lower-level characters fleeing in fear. The lich's interaction with the Psionics rules and the iconic lich Vecna were described in ''Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry'' ( ...
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Steve Winter
Steve Winter (born December 8, 1957) is an American game designer who worked on numerous products for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, which was originally published by TSR and later Wizards of the Coast. Early life Winter was born in Dubuque, Iowa on December 8, 1957. Winter attended Catholic school for grade school and high school, and had two years of Catholic college before he transferred to Iowa State University at Ames. “A nun introduced me to the works of J. R. R. Tolkien in high school ... Previously, I had been mostly into historical novels and military history. For the next several years, I read all the fantasy I could get my hands on — but I didn’t enjoy very much of it. I couldn’t find anything with the same sense of humor and style as Tolkien. I also read a lot of science fiction.” In 1978, while attending college, Winter worked part-time at a department store which carried a few wargames in its small games department. He began playi ...
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The Complete Psionics Handbook
''The Complete Psionics Handbook'' is a supplemental rulebook for the 2nd edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, published in 1991 by TSR, Inc. Contents With ''The Complete Psionics Handbook'', psionics in the ''AD&D'' game became the domain of an entirely new class, the psionicist. The psionicist's skills are based on the Wisdom and Constitution ability scores, and while humans can attain higher levels of expertise, all races are eligible for the class. Characters of chaotic alignment are not allowed to become psionicists, with the rationale being that volatile chaotic characters lack the discipline required to focus their mental energies. Psionic powers are assigned to six disciplines, which include clairsentience (divination), psychokinesis (animating and controlling existing objects and forces), psychometabolism (body-changing powers), psychoportation (teleportation variants), telepathy (mental communication and psychic attacks), and metapsionics ( ...
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David "Zeb" Cook
David "Zeb" Cook is an American game designer, best known for his work at TSR, Inc., where he was employed for over fifteen years. Cook designed several games, wrote the '' Expert Set'' for ''Dungeons & Dragons'', worked as lead designer of the second edition of ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'', and invented the Planescape setting for ''AD&D''. He is a member of the Origins Hall of Fame. Early life Cook was born in East Lansing, Michigan, and grew up on a farm in Iowa. His father was a farmer and college professor. In junior high school, Cook played wargames such as Avalon Hill's ''Blitzkrieg'' and ''Afrika Korps'': "I was primarily a wargamer, but there wasn't any role-playing available then." In college, he was introduced to the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game through the University of Iowa gaming club. Cook earned his B.A. in English (with a Theater minor) in 1977. He married his high school sweetheart, Helen, with whom he had one son, Ian. Cook became a high school t ...
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Dragon (magazine)
''Dragon'' was one of the two official magazines for source material for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game and associated products, along with ''Dungeon (magazine), Dungeon''. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, ''The Strategic Review''. The final printed issue was #359 in September 2007. Shortly after the last print issue shipped in mid-August 2007, Wizards of the Coast (part of Hasbro, Inc.), the publication's current copyright holder, relaunched ''Dragon'' as an online magazine, continuing on the numbering of the print edition. The last published issue was No. 430 in December 2013. A digital publication called ''Dragon+'', which replaced ''Dragon'' magazine, was launched in 2015. It was created by the advertising agency Dialect in collaboration with Wizards of the Coast, and its numbering system for issues started at No. 1. History TSR In 1975, TSR, Inc. began publishing ''The Strate ...
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Roger E
Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ("spear", "lance") (Hrōþigēraz). The name was introduced into England by the Normans. In Normandy, the Franks, Frankish name had been reinforced by the Old Norse cognate '. The name introduced into England replaced the Old English cognate '. ''Roger'' became a very common given name during the Middle Ages. A variant form of the given name ''Roger'' that is closer to the name's origin is '' Rodger''. Slang and other uses From up to , Roger was slang for the word "penis". In ''Under Milk Wood'', Dylan Thomas writes "jolly, rodgered" suggesting both the sexual double entendre and the pirate term "Jolly Roger". In 19th-century England, Roger was slang for another term, the cloud of toxic green gas that swept through the chlori ...
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Monster Manual
The ''Monster Manual'' (''MM'') is the primary bestiary sourcebook for monsters in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game, first published in 1977 by TSR. The ''Monster Manual'' was the first hardcover ''D&D'' book and includes monsters derived from mythology and folklore, as well as creatures created specifically for ''D&D''. Creature descriptions include game-specific statistics (such as the monster's level or number of hit dice), a brief description of its habits and habitats, and typically an image of the creature. Along with the '' Player's Handbook'' and '' Dungeon Master's Guide'', the ''Monster Manual'' is one of the three "core rulebooks" in most editions of the ''D&D'' game. As such, new editions of the ''Monster Manual'' have been released for each edition of ''D&D''. Due to the level of detail and illustration included in the 1977 release, the book was cited as a pivotal example of a new style of wargame books. Future editions would draw on ...
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RPGnet
RPGnet is a role-playing game website. It includes sections on wargaming, wargames, tabletop games and video games, as well as columns on gaming topics. RPGnet was founded in 1996 by Emma and Sandy Antunes, Shawn Althouse ( etrigan) and Brian David Phillips, as a way to unify a number of transient game sites. In 2001 it was purchased by Skotos Tech, but maintains creative and editorial autonomy. Currently it is being run by Shannon Appelcline of Skotos, while a number of volunteer Forum moderator, moderators and administrators help maintain the forums. In 2024, RPG.net was sold to RPGMatch, who would take over development duties while the administration of the forums was to remain independent. RPGnet services Forums Originally based on Matt's WWWBoard script, the 1997 RPGnet forums were formatted in earlier message boards' threaded style, being mostly dedicated to game design and industry news. With the change to vBulletin on 2002, new sections catering to the growing player and e ...
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Ten Speed Press
Ten Speed Press is a publishing house founded in Berkeley, California, in 1971 by Phil Wood. It was bought by Random House in February 2009 and became part of their Crown Publishing Group division. History Wood worked with Barnes & Noble in 1962, Penguin Books in 1965, and had a senior sales position at Penguin Books in Baltimore and New York before founding Ten Speed Press. Wood died of cancer in December 2010. Ten Speed's first book was ''Anybody's Bike Book'', which is still in print. It inspired the publisher's name and has sold more than a million copies. Ten Speed's all-time best-seller is '' What Color is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers'' by Richard N. Bolles (1972). It has been reissued in new editions and, as of 2009, has sold more than ten million copies, translated into 20 languages. Ten Speed has published numerous other non-fiction titles, including '' Moosewood Cookbook'', '' White Trash Cooking,'' '' Why Cats Paint,'' ''Th ...
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