Phlegm Elementals And Killer Tomatoes Await In 32-Year-Old "Weird Works"

More than two years ago, I discussed the monster manual titled Weird Works I wrote back in 1982 when I was 16 years old. I donated this kid-written D&D monster tome to PlaGMaDA -- The Play Generated Map and Document Archive. But I stupidly neglected to make a copy of this hand-written book for myself before I mailed it off. Fortunately, Tim Hutchinson of PlaGMaDA was kind enough to send me a scan of the interior pages just the other day. And today, I'll share it with you. Click this link or the cover to the right to take a gander at my first gaming supplement. (One note: The cover is not a high-rez scan but rather a low-rez photo I resized for the PDF.)

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND: I wrote this when I was 16, so be kind to 32-years-ago me. I illustrated it to the best of my cartooning ability (Don Martin-esque, I think), and many of the entries are of a parody nature. ("Killer Tomatoes?""Phlegm Elementals?" "GIANT SMURFS?!?") But there are 17 creatures within that had some good idea kernels to them. In fact, some of these creatures ended up being the inspiration for future creatures that have appeared here on The Savage AfterWorld! (Click the links in the list below to see how these creatures evolved!)

Within, you'll find:

• Boogeyman
• Bookbat
• Cannon Creature
• Dragon, Plaid
• Golem, Paper
• Gravedigger
• Jitterbug
• Killer Tomato
• Oilque
• Quasi-elemental, Chicken Fat
• Quasi-elemental, Lint
• Quasi-elemental, Phlegm
• Quasi-elemental, Saliva
• Smurf, Giant
• Spinbuzz
• Venus Man Trap
• Zlophmore 

So there you have it -- the forerunner of both Deviant Databases. Hope you enjoy thumbing through a piece of my gaming history. And if you have gaming artifacts of your own to share, make arrangements with PlaGMaDa to give them a home!

My First Monster Manual Heading To PlaGMaDA

It's funny, but I really don't have a lot of homemade leftovers from the earlier formative RPG days. I have a lot of games and dice from the '80s, but nothing I created myself. Which is funny, as I made a LOT of stuff back in the day. My dad gave me one of his old briefcases and I kept all of my custom materials in there. I had a ton of Villains and Vigilantes badguys from a long-running campaign (Shatterer, The Pawn, Furnace, Dr. Dread, and my favorite, The Puzzler). I had some custom modules for V&V, AD&D, Ghostbusters, and Chill - all bound with nifty handdrawn covers. But over the years, all of those items were either lost or thrown out. However, several years ago, my mom called me to let me know she had stumbled across one handmade gaming item tucked in amongst my junior high award certificates and other flotsam: "Weird Works." The cover appears above..

You see, Weird Works was my version of a Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual. Over the years, anytime I had an idea for a monster, I'd stat it up, draw a picture of it, and place it in this flimsy red cardboard binder. Some were of a satirical bent ("Giant Smuf" and "Plaid Dragon" anyone? Oh, and the cover has an illustration of -- yes -- a "Killer Tomato".). But others were kinda cool in retrospect. In fact, a few of the creatures that have appeared on this blog (Fear Feeder and Salvo off the top of my head) were inspired by critters in Weird Works. When I hammered together my recent Deviant Database, I had this notebook beside me for inspiration. However, it's not a respource manual I plan to use at the gaming table; I've tapped out the more interesting items for other projects; and -- honestly -- it's a bit on the embarrassing side. (It's like that picture taken of you in 1976 when you were 10 and wearing that red, white, and blue sports coat that you pray your friends never see.) So the question of what to do with this (other than misplace it again one day) still loomed over my head.

And that when I discovered the PlaGMaDA -- the Play Generated Map and Document Archive.

Their Mission Statement: "PlaGMaDA's mission is to preserve, present, and interpret play generated cultural artifacts, namely manuscripts and drawings created to communicate a shared imaginative space.  The Archive will solicit, collect, describe, and publicly display these documents so as to demonstrate their relevance, presenting them as both a historical record of a revolutionary period of experimental play and as aesthetic objects in their own right.  By fostering discussion and educating the public, it is hoped that the folkways which generate these documents can be encouraged and preserved for future generations."

In other words, they collect, compile, and share homemade gaming materials from "back in the day." The archive they have is a fascinating snapshot of dreawings, character sheets, adventures, and other materials created in bedrooms, garages, basements, and study halls. Right now, they have a Kickstarter project to compile and print up a collection of this kid-generated adventures. I could think of no better place for this book to end up, so I dropped  them a line and they said they'd be glad to take it, scan it for the archive, and file the original away with all of the other homemade treasures they've accumulated. So tomorrow, this well-worn, well-read, and well-loved chunk of my childhood is heading to its final home.

But before it heads out, here are three creatures -- written up in 1982 -- I'd like to share:

 

And drop them a line to make your own donation if you have any home-created gaming materials from Ye Olden Dayes.

My Endless Quest Has Ended

Way back in 1982, as I perused the local Waldenbooks, I came across a section dedicated to those Choose Your Own Adventure books. However, one title caught my eye - Dungeon of Dread by Rose Estes, Book 1 of the Endless Quest series. What made this stand out was that it was published by TSR and based in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. I saw it as a great way to play D&D "solo" during those downtimes when my group couldn't get together. So I picked it up and brought it home, pouring over it over one summer. I read and re-read that book to the point  that I knew all of the paths and all of the outcomes. I even tried to draw a map of the dungeon as it corresponded to the text. However, for some reason, I never picked up another one that summer, and I packed this book away with a stack of other paperbacks.

About 3 years ago, the book resurfaced at my parent's house. I thumbed through it, recalling how much fun I had with it when I was (much) younger. I did a bit of research to see how many other TSR Endless Quest books has been released and, needing yet another "collection obsession," decided to collect the entire EQ library. I scoured used book stores, thrift stores, and library sales. I made trades and swaps with other collectors. I dipped into eBay and Amazon for some of the truly obscure ones. As of Friday, with the acquisition of Tarzan and the Tower of Diamonds, I have achieved my initial goal of collecting every Endless Quest Series 1 and 2 book, as well as the entire run of Super Endless Quest Adventure Gamebooks. Here's what all 65 books looks like:

First of all, Series 1 consisted of 36 books released between 1984 and 1987. A large number of them were written by Rose Estes, who wrote 9 of them. However some of the other books in this first series were written by such notable TSR folks such as Mike Carr, James Ward, Roger E. Moore, and Margaret Weis. Although most take place in the D&D fantasy genre, some of the other books take place in the worlds of Top Secret, Star Frontiers, and -- of course -- Gamma World. There were also two books each based on the adventures of Conan the Barbarian and Tarzan of the Apes.

Next up, Series 2 was a "relaunch" of the Endless Quest line in 1994. There were 11 books released in this series, although there were two others (The Test and Sands of Deception) that were written, but never published and released. Some other stalwarts who contributed titles to the EQ line in this series included Allen Varney, Nick Pollotta, and Jean Rabe.

Finally, there were 18 books released between 1985 and 1988 that fell into the Super Endless Quest line. (Later renamed Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Gamebooks.) This series had a deeper role-playing element as there was a simplified RPG system built into the book that depended on dice rolls, hit points, spell casting, and combat. A player character card was stitched into each book (which also doubled as a bookmark). One of my goals with this series was to secure the original PC card that accompanied each book -- easier said than done. But each book pictured here has that elusive PC card. (I had a heck of a time finding Prince of Thieves as there was a certain similarly-named Kevin Costner movie that made Internet searches very problematic.)

Even though there are several other TSR choose-a-path book series out there -- Crimson Crystal, Fantasy Forest, Heart Quest, and Marvel Super Heroes, to name a few -- I think I'm gonna hold up on the next round of search-and-find. After all, I have plenty to read now as it is.

And to keep this post applicable to this post-apocalyptic blog, I'll review the four or five Gamma World-related EQ books in this collection in the near future.