So, I've just finished the first draft of my utterly subjective memoir of my early years in D&D, which I've entitled "We Made Up Some Shit We Thought Would Be Fun."  Soon to be a Kickstarter.

As an honest whore, I believe a free sample is the best way to get customers, so here's a little something that I at least hope may mildly amuse:

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GHOULASH THE BALROG AND THE ORCS

   For a while there in the 70s I was seriously obsessed with playing a Balrog.  I had a Balrog character in at least three different campaigns that I can think of, including Greyhawk.  It wasn’t like I wanted to be the “eternal enemy” or wanted to wreak havoc on the lands of Good, or anything like that… mostly, it’s because I thought Balrogs were cool.  Still do, for that matter.  But there was nothing about being a Balrog that precluded me adventuring with other Chaotic, or even Neutral, PCs.

   Now, in Volume One of the Little Brown Books Gary talked about how players could “play as virtually anything, provided they begin relatively weak and work up to the top.”  I had no problem starting as a 1 Hit Die Balrog and slowly gaining abilities and strength according to an XP chart the referee created.

   There are, of course, a variety of ways to incorporate a variety of ideas.  In the LBBs, Balrogs can “immolate” on a 2 d 6 roll of 7 or better, allowing them a second attack.  The way that at least one referee implemented this was to give lower level Balrogs a lesser chance of immolating, requiring a higher die roll than 7.  This had the effect that I wasn’t always able to immolate by choice, which one time had unintended consequences.

   I was playing a Balrog character named “Ghulash.”  Yes, pronounced like the culinary item.  Since in Lord of the Rings the Balrog was associated with the Orcs in Moria, I decided that I wanted an Orc army of my own.  However, I was not content to have Ghulash wait until he was a full grown Big Bad Balrog; oh, no, I wanted an Orc army NOW!  Furthermore, I reasoned, having Orcs as loyal minions meant that I could take them along as extra muscle on adventures, but their subservient natures would ensure that I alone would reap the riches of those adventures.

   The plan was actually working fairly well; Ghulash was somewhere around 4th or 5th level, getting reasonably tough, and had a band of some two dozen Orcs or so.  I was exploring a nearby ruined castle (proverbial D&D dungeon) on an upper level, hoping to find some more Orcs to recruit into my ever-growing army.  My recruitment method was fairly simple; when I found some Orcs, I’d burst into flames and cry, “Behold, Ghulash the Mighty is here!  Serve me!”

   That particular day I was adventuring with some other PCs playing human characters, and it’s a good thing.  We hadn’t wandered too far in the dungeon that day before finding a door.  Motioning my companions to silence, I listened briefly and easily heard Orcish voices conversing in the Black Speech of Mordor (also known as “Chaotic alignment language” in OD&D.)  Hollah!  More minions!

   I crashed through the door, saw it was indeed inhabited by Orcs, and exclaimed my exclamation.  “Roll,” said the referee, and I did… and rolled too low.  Undaunted, I tried again.  “Behold my terrible powerfulness and serve me!”  Once again, the dice played me false, rolling too low a second time.  Onward!  “Look on my works, all ye mighty, and despair!”  Again I failed to roll high enough to burst into flames.

   Then one of the Orcs in the room started to snigger.  Orcs have a really annoying snigger.

   Ghulash ground his teeth in frustration.  Verily, this was not in the script.  Fortunately I was a fast thinker.  “I’m going back out into the hall!” I told the referee.

   Once among my human companions… whom I knew to be experienced dungeon-crawlers and thus equipped as such … I asked if anybody had a flask of oil.  Someone produced one, which I promptly opened and dumped over my head.  I then grabbed a torch from one of my Orcish torchbears and applied it to myself, resulting in Ghulash being covered in flame in a satisfactory manner.  Once again I burst through the door.  “NOW be amazed and obey me!”  There was a smattering of polite applause and the Orcs pledged to join me.  After all, entertainment like that isn’t available just anywhere.

   Did I say “unintended consequences”?  I meant, “hilarious consequences.”

It great that you are doing this. It is nice to read personal accounts from the folks who were involved back then. Give a balance to the exhaustive Playing at the World.

I'm looking forward to reading this.

OG, this rocks and I love the title. Though you may want to check to see if you can use Shit on Kickstarter and eventually Amazon or whether you need to go with Sh*t instead. Your book sounds like great fun.

Of course, you are going to get some queries because your experience as a Balrog is in direct contradiction to Gary's diatribe against non-standard races in the 1e DMG and getting a chance to play non-standard races was a big selling point for both Tunnels & Trolls and Palladium Fantasy which went against what appeared to be Gary's (and thus TSR's) stance.

Did Gary's view change...because of something you did!!!

1)  I'm prepared to Bowdlerize the title in public.

2)

"Other Character Types: There is no reason that players cannot be allowed to play as virtually anything, provided they begin relatively weak and work up to the top, i.e., a player wishing to be a Balrog would have to begin as let us say, a "young" one and progress upwards in the usual manner, steps being predetermined by the campaign referee."

Dungeons & Dragons, Volume 1, "Men and Magic," Page 8.  (TSR, 1974)

I think Gary changed his tune because people didn't want to start as a 1 HD Balrog that immolated on an 11+ for 1d4 additional damage, but as a full fledged 10 HD monster.

Quote from: Spinachcat;689920Did Gary's view change...because of something you did!!!

Eh, I'd figure that the majority of RPG rules evolved in such a fashion.  I know of at least two GURPS rules that are in place because of nonsense my players pulled in the blindtest.

Sounds fun, Old Geezer! Always enjoyed your recollections at the other place! Awesome Balrog play

Quote from: Black Vulmea;534459If Old Geezer doesn't write a book about roleplaying games before he dies, it will be a crime against history.

Thank you for averting this disaster, OG.

Well, its certainly likely to be better than pretty well any other book written "About" rpgs thus far, which have all been shit.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;690282Well, its certainly likely to be better than pretty well any other book written "About" rpgs thus far, which have all been shit.

Including Playing at the World?

Quote from: Dirk Remmecke;690285Including Playing at the World?

Yeah, I wouldn't put Playing At The World in the "shit book" category either. It certainly provides a great start for explaining the historical context which surrounded the inception of the Dungeons & Dragons game.

Actually, I can't wait to read Playing at the World, not just because Jon bought my map and printed it!

But I'm not pretending any sort of accurate or historical work here; it's a memoir with some fireside musings about where some things came from, like late at night with friends on the second or third glass of Port.

Quote from: Old Geezer;690429. . . it's a memoir with some fireside musings about where some things came from, like late at night with friends on the second or third glass of Port.

Make mine a Colheita, please.

I liked Dicing With Dragons. Played the heck out of the solo adventure in that. Can't recall much else of what it was about though. Don't think it's "history" gave more than a passing mention to anything pre-Holmes.

Quote from: Dirk Remmecke;690285Including Playing at the World?

I haven't read it yet, but based on some of the people I've seen praising it I have serious doubts about it.

RPGPundit