Eamon Adventurer’s Log
National Eamon User’s Club
Volume 1 Number
From the Editor ---
As I mentioned last issue, we have been considering
what should be done about some of the adventures we have received. We decided
to set up a committee of Eamon Club members to discuss the problem. That
meeting was held April 27th along the Club staff and members in the
The conclusion was - we don’t want junk for adventures. If we receive an adventure from the author directly, we will review the adventure and get the feedback to the author. If the adventure does not pass our very lenient requirements, it will be rejected. So as to not embarrass the author, it will not be a public rejection. The only time we will do that is when it is unavoidable (i.e. we throw out an adventure that has already slipped through and made it on the list.)
These Eamon adventures have been discontinued
#32 House of Ill Repute
May be borderline illegal
#59 Jungles of
Drug usage was heavily involved
#71 Operation Crab Key
Descriptions unfitting an Eamon adventure.
#88 The Shopping Mall
Nothing of interest (only 1 artifact!)
I know there will be those who say we are practicing censorship, but look at it this way: We’re not censoring the designers right to put out an adventure like this, we’re just refusing to put it on our list and distribute it.
Another class of adventure that we do not encourage, but will accept is the small adventure with few artifacts, few monsters and no (or very little) special programming. We feel these adventures are boring and a waste of time, but may have the value of allowing the beginning designer to try a simpler adventure before he dives in. Also, some beginner players may like these. We may cease accepting these, however, if we feel we are receiving too many.
We would like to hear from the rest of our members on the decisions we’ve made. We are only trying to establish some standards and we feel if we don’t draw the line somewhere then there will be no standards. ‘Nuff said.
TERMINOLOGICAL INEXACTITUDES
Bob is on Safari. In honor of this event, we
considered writing a new adventure entitled BobQuest There would be only four
rooms. You start out in
Lifetime memberships are now available to the club. This is one thing we have been asked for quite frequently. We have decided to offer lifetime memberships to the first one hundred people who send us $10,000.00 (each) - (U.S. Cash - no checks).
---
Our Staff
John Nelson - Our founder
Bob Davis - if found, please return
Jeff Harri5 - Lost cartoonist now found
Steve Mahr - Copy boy - so to speak
Dan Cross - Gaffer
Gary Flanagan - Dragon artist - retired?
EAMON NEWS
by John Nelson
NEW ADVENTURES
I would like to announce some new adventures, but I would like to explain a few of them, since some are of questionable merit.
The Eamon adventures that were listed last issue have been given numbers and a couple of additional adventures were added. The new adventures are:
93. Flying Circus By Rick Krebs
94. Blood Feud By Rick Krebs
95. Maze of Quasequeton By Brian Kondalski (b)
96. Chamber of the Dragons By Brian Kondaiski (b)
97. House of Secrets By George Gunn
98. Slave Pits of Kzorland By Rick Hersam (c)
99. In the Clutches of Torrik By John Nelson
100. Sorcerer’s Spire By John Nelson
Adventures flagged with a (b) are for beginners and may be very boring for experienced players. They contain very little, if any, special programming. We considered putting these on a separate list or not accepting them at all because of their very simple nature. The reason we decided to go ahead and accept them as is, is because we thought they might be alright for the beginning Eamon adventurer. (Someone who doesn’t expect a lot of special programming or complex missions.)
There is no mission or plot to adventures 93 - 96, or 98. Also, adventures 93 through 96 did not have descriptions of monsters as a complete sentence. You would get something like ‘A METAL-CLAD FIGuRE.’ for the entire description. I added ‘YOU SEE A to the beginning of all of these descriptions.
The adventure flagged with a (C) contains little or no special programming, but the monsters you must battle are too tough for a beginning character.
For my own part, I will never create an adventure that I feel has no merit. I think if you don’t put in special programming or something special to keep the player’s interest, then it isn’t worth doing. Therefore my latest two adventures In the Clutches of Torrik and Sorcerer’s Spire are not to be grouped with the entry level adventures, even though they happen to be on the same list above. Sorcerer’s Spire has been in the works for a year and is one of my better ones (at least I think it is.) In the Clutches of Torrik is a small adventure that I created as a diversion, but it has same interesting twists.
Last issue in the Designer’s Den column, I talked about hardiness and what it should be for different kinds of monsters. This was intended as a guideline and not as a hard-and-fast rule. In a couple of Eamon adventures we have looked at, we have noticed hardiness values well into the hundreds for more-or-less ‘normal’ humans, simply because the designer wanted that monster to be ‘tough’. We have the philosophy at the club that a normal (although, maybe somewhat tough) character should be able to survive most adventures. That doesn’t mean he should be able to whip anyone he comes up against, just that he should be able to survive the encounter - long enough to flee, anyway. Also if someone writes an adventure that has a dragon with a hardiness of 220, we feel it is unfair to have another adventure where that’s the average hardiness of the run-of-the-mill slave or guard. In order to create a consistent universe, we have to stick to some kind of guidelines.
In this vein, we have changed some of the monsters in strength from the level that the designer placed them. Some were well into the ‘god’ class where not even a god of Thunder could have survived. We hesitated to do this, since we do not like to modify other people’s adventures, but when you are trying to standardize a system like Eamon, you have to put the monsters into line with the normal range of attributes. I think they will play better and be more enjoyable now.
EAMON - IBM-PC VERSION STATUS
The IBM-PC Eamon version is well on its way. I have
converted all of the programs on the Plaster Diskette (except for the
When the system is de-bugged, then we should have about 90 adventures to convert. All adventures will be changed to version 6.0 during this phase, because it is easier to make all the custom changes for every adventure than it is to re-convert every base program.
COMMODORE 64 VERSION STATUS
We got some stuff from one of our members who was converting Eamon to the Commodore 64, but we have not done anything on this system yet. Bob has volunteered to handle it, but then he disappeared and hasn’t done anything yet. Sorry. Nothing new here to report.
EAMON PUBLICITY EXPANDS
A+ magazine ran an article on adventure games in which you can create your own adventures. Among them was Eamon. The article was a good introduction for the uninitiated, except they said that the Plaster diskette and the Dungeon Designer diskette were flip sides of the same diskette. Some distributors are doing this, and apparently they thought everyone was. Rather than trying to explain that we don’t distribute them this way, we have decided to copy these two diskettes in this manner for $5.00 if you say you saw the article in
We have also heard that the club was mentioned in a May 27th issue of INFOWORLD recently. (Anyone have a copy so they could send us a copy of the article?)
Maybe all this publicity will help increase our membership.
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THIS SPACE FOR RENT |
UTILITY LINES
by John Nelson
This is one of those issues that contains Utility Lines. Not all of them do, you know. Anyway, this issue, I wanted to cover one of our most sought after secrets! No - not that secret, I mean the one that tells you how to install the save game feature.
The following are instructions will explain how to install the Save Game routine into almost any Eamon adventure. It is written in general terms for experienced and inexperienced users alike. Special note should be taken that this procedure works as it is for most standardized Eamon adventures. (Adventures that have not been altered by other distributors or programmers). Some distributors place their own programs in the catalog for advertising purposes and some even rename the files. These instructions are intended to be used for diskettes as they are distributed by the club. If your diskettes are non-standard, see the Customizers Corner Column for instructions on what to do for non-standard diskettes.
Part One - Modifying the Plain Program
1. Make a copy of your adventure diskette before going any further. We’ll wait here until you’ve finished. <<<<< whistle - whistle - whistle >>>>> Done now? Good! This is necessary so that if you goof up your diskette (very easily done’), you’ll have a back-up to restore from. If you do goof up your disk, restore from the back-up and try again. Don’t try a second time on your back-up without restoring. If you wish to skip the back-up step, then skip all of the following steps as well. We wish to disclaim all responsibility at this point if you do not make a back-up.
2. Insert your adventure diskette and type LOAD MAIN PGM. If you get ‘FILE NOT FOUND’ then your adventure needs to be standardized first. See the Customizers Corner in this issue for further instructions. After the program is loaded, list the program to determine the following:
a. Locate the DATA statements containing the commands for the adventure. These are usually found at line 1920. If there are a lot of the., they may occupy lines 1920 and 1930. The SAVE command must be added to this list, if it does not already exist. if it DOES already exist, then we have a problem. It means that either the Save game feature has already been installed or that the designer put a SAVE command in for adventure purposes. Example: You’re supposed to save a princess from a lava flow heading this way, using the SAVE command.) Currently, I know of no adventures that do anything like this, put it is possible. If you do run across an adventure that uses the SAVE command for adventure purpose, you should be able to change this command to something like RESCUE. etc. If the save game feature has already been installed then you’re finished. (Wasn’t that easy?)
b. The SAVE command should then be added to the end of the data statements for the commands. You can do this by typing a new line (such as 1925 DATA SAVE) or adding the word SAVE to the end of the existing data.
c. The count of the number of commands should be changed to reflect the addition of the save command. This DATA 5tatement is usually found in line 1910. If it says DATA 37, change it to DATA 38. If it says DATA 34, change it to DATA 35; etc.
d. Locate the command branch routine. This line is the line that branches to the different commands depending on the command the player entered. This line will be a string of junk like ON C 6010 3000,3000,3000,3000… for a full paragraph. At the end of this line, you will need to put a branch to the save routine. The text files we will be using to install the save routine will place the save routine at line 30000 and the restart routine at 29000.
i. You will therefore need a 30000 at the end of your ON 6010 line. The ON 6010 line is normally found at line 290.
3. If you prefer, you may choose to make a new line to put the branch to 30000 on. This may be necessary if the line is so long that Applesoft truncates (chops off) the end. If you prefer to do it with a separate line, it would look like this: 295 ON C - 39 6010 30000
a. 39 is the number of commands that precede the SAVE command in the list of commands.
4. Determine whether lines 20 and 29000 - 40000 are available to be used for the Save routine. (Be sure they do not currently exist in the program). If there is code already there, you will destroy it if you continue, so don’t.
5. Save the main program, by typing SAVE MAIN PGM. If it is locked (indicated by an * next to it in the catalog entry), you will have to unlock it before saving it.
6. Insert Eamon Utilities IV, then type LOAD CREATE TEXT TO SAVE GAME
7. Insert the adventure diskette again and type RUN.
8. LOAD MAIN PGN and type EXEC APPEND SAVE RTN. You will see a bunch of prompts appear on the screen. Don’t Panic. This is normal behavior when an Apple is eating. When the prompts stop and the cursor reappears, MAIN PGM has been altered. List it and you should see the save routine has been installed at line 30000. The restore routine should be at line 29000.
You are now finished with Part One. SAVE MAIN PGN. You are done with it for now.
Part Two - Connecting the restore feature
1. Load the program that starts with EAMON ADVENTURE #nn. If the catalog is non-standard, try standardizing it using the Customizer Corner Column in this issue.
2. Determine if lines 5, 6 and 9 are available to be added to the program without deleting existing code.
3. Insert Eamon Utilities IV and load the file ‘CREATE TEXT TO FIX BOOT’
4. Insert the adventure diskette again.
5. Type RUN (This creates the text file ‘FIX BOOT PGM’)
6. Load the file ‘EANON ADVENTURE #nn’ (nn the number of the adventure)
7. Type EXEC FIX BOOT PGM This will install the logic to recognize that the game has been saved.
8. Be sure the file is UNLOCKed and then Save the program under the same name it was loaded from (EAMON ADVENTURE Inn).
You are now ready to test the adventure. Enter the adventure from the master diskette (using a character you don’t care about.) Once you have gone a couple of roams into it, save the game. The re-boat and see if it restarts okay.
You may then delete the files FIX BOOT PGM and APPEND SAVE RTN from the adventure diskette.
CUSTOMIZERS CORNER
by John Nelson
This column will run from time-to-time when we want to explain how to make a special change to the Eaton system or plead with you not to make certain changes. This column is intended for those familiar with at least a little programming. If you know how to load an Applesoft program, change a line number and save it back to the diskette (even if it is locked’ i.e. UNLOCK program before saving it.), then you should have enough expertise to handle most of the changes that will be given in this column. Some changes may require more complex operations.
TO DIE OR NOT TO DIE
This is a very simple change that can be made to the Eaton Master to keep your character from being erased from the Master Diskette whenever you leave on an adventure.
LOAD MAIN HALL
Insert REM at beginning of line 1000
UNLOCK MAIN HALL
SAVE MAIN HALL
This prevents the Main Hall program from writing into your character record, which is what causes the system to think you are dead. This type of change is considered “cheating”.
SAVE GAME FEATURE... STANDARDIZATION PROCESS
by John Nelson
Originally! I added the Save Game feature to about twenty Eamon adventures a few years ago because I was tired of not being able to interrupt a game once it was started. A lot of the time, you would have no idea how long a game would take and if it took longer than you had! You were up the creek.
I didn’t believe in using the save game to avoid risk; I just wanted to be able to stop a game in the middle. I therefore used a routine that would store off all the variables and would restore them later.
The process of installing the Save Game feature may be a complex one, depending on the adventure and the version you have. The procedure for installing the actual save game routine will be covered in the Utility Lines Column. These instructions presume your diskette is in a standard format. In this column, I will cover how to tell if your adventure is a standard format and if not, how to make your adventure diskette into a standard format in preparation for installing the save game routine.
The first thing to do is a catalog of the adventure diskette. Some of the earlier adventures had -> <- on each side of the adventure number in the catalog. This was changed back when I began installing the Save Game routine.
A standard catalog will now look something like this:
EAMON ADVENTURE #21
QUEST FOR MARRON
EAMON.NAME
EAMON.ROOMS
EAMON.ROOM NAMES
EANON.MONSTERS
EAMON.ARTIFACTS
MAIN PGM
The two points to look at are:
1. Is the main program have a name other than MAIN PGM
2. Does the EAMON ADVENTURE * file have an ‘illegal name’. (The -> <- business.)
If the answer to either of these questions is Yes, then you should go through the standardizing process before trying to add the save game routine.
Please note: If you buy your diskettes from sources other than the club, the catalog may look a lot different. These instructions are for earlier standard versions. You’ll have to interpret these instructions and adapt thee to your copies if they are non-standard. This type of thing is one of the reasons we are striving to standardize the Eaton adventures. It is just too difficult to write up documentation and instructions for something that is totally unpredictable.
The order of the files is not too important. The part you need to take note of is the adventure number line. If it has the -> <- nonsense in the catalog, the program will have to be loaded, unlocked and saved in a format like this:
?CHR$(4);”LOAD A”;CHR$(8);”-> EAMON ADVENTURE #nn <-“
?CHR$(4);”UNLOCK A”;CHR$(8);”-> EAMON ADVENTURE #nn <-“
To get around this, the program name should be changed. This can be done with a ZAP program such as in BAG OF TRICKS. In addition, the name of the boot program has to be changed within the DOS sectors of the diskette. COPY II PLUS has a sector editor in it that I highly recommend as well as a function for changing the name of the boot program.
If your catalog is already standard you may skip the rest of this article and go to the Utility Lines Column for instructions on installing the Save Game routine.
If you have the -> <- stuff in your catalog, stand-by. We’ll explain how to fix this up.
CHANGING THE NAME OF THE BOOT PROGRAM - There are two ways to change the name of the boot program and make the name a legal DOS name. The first is to use a ZAP type sector editor program. This method is more complicated and if you are not familiar with it, use method II below.
Method I. ZAP method.
Upon boot-up, DOS runs the program whose name is given in track 1, sector 9, at a displacement of $75 of the di5kette. This program name is currently ‘A<-> EANON ADVENTURE #nn <-‘. (The first left arrow given is the back space character CHR$(B)).
Using your sector editor, change the name to just ‘EANON ADVENTURE tnn’ (where nn is your adventure number). Also, change the name of the program in the catalog. This can be done using the sector editor or the command:
?CHR$(4) ; “RENAME A’;CHR$(8); -> EAMON ADVENTURE #nn <-, EAMON ADVENTURE #nn”
Method II. Using another diskette - recommended over the above procedure
1. Insert your adventure diskette and type ?CHR$(4);”LOAD A”;CHR$(8);”-> EAMON ADVENTURE #nn <-“
2. Insert a new (blank) diskette and type INIT EAMON ADVENTURE #nn, Vnn
(use the adventure number in place of the nn’s)
3. Copy all other files onto the new diskette (using FID or some other DOS 3.3 copy program that will copy individual files.) DO NOT copy the file with the arrows in it.
IF YOU DON’T HAVE A PROGRAM CALLED ‘MAIN P6M’ ON YOUR DISK.
Find the program in your catalog that has an ‘A’ next
to it (indicating it is an Applesoft program) AND is between 52 and 120 sectors
in length. This will be your main program. Whatever name it has on it, rename
it to MAIN PGM. Then load the program that has an ‘A’ next to it that has the
name of the adventure. Example: If I were standardizing Valkenburg Castle. I
would do a CATALOG. Note the name of the main program. Let’s say it was THE
CASTLE’. There would be another program on that disk that would be an Applesoft
program by the name of
For our example we would type in:
RENAME THE CASTLE, MAIN PGM
Then list it, finding all references to the old main program name on any RUN statements in the program and changing them to run MAIN P611. For our example, let’s say line 180 is:
180 PRINT DK$;’RUN THE CASTLE’
Change this to:
180 PRINT DK$;’RUN MAIN PGM’
Now unlock the
UNLOCK
SAVE
You should now have the file names changed as needed to install the save game routine. See the Utility Lines Column in this issue.
SPOTLIGHT ON
#45 - SwordQuest (8:8) by Roger Pender
Reviewed by John Nelson
Extra Commands: Save, Read, Open
Playing Time: 4 - 5 hours
When I played this adventure several months ago, I was killed twice before I could even get into the Castle, so I knew I’d better take a substantial character with me. I chose Galahad (a character we have been distributing on the Master Diskette for the past couple of years.) He had perfect Hardiness, Agility and Charisma (all 24’s); 100% weapon abilities in all weapon classes, 100% spell abilities in all spells, plate armour, a shield and good armour expertise as well as some fairly heavy (although not ridiculous) weapons. He barely survived! I’m glad I didn’t take anyone less qualified.
The story line on this adventure is that Morgan Le Fay, Arthur’s half-sister has stolen Excalibur and has spirited it away to her castle. Your job is to find it and return it to Arthur.
I was in seventh heaven during the entire adventure. There was a lot of combat against some very tough opponents. I would say this is the maximum combat adventure that it is possible to survive with the maximum normal character in Eamon. If I hadn’t had friends along, and used my wits every step of the way, it would have been curtains.
But this adventure has more than lots of combat. It has good descriptions, a logical layout, good puzzles, some new and interesting magic and lots of action. I wasn’t bored for a second. You won’t be either.
#51 - Eamon Bluff (7:6) by Tim Berge
Reviewed by Dan Cross
Extra Commands: none
Playing Time: 2 - 3 hours
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to go back to the days of your childhood?, your youth?, or more importantly, back to the Beginner’s Cave? We’ve all heard the expression ‘You can never go back’. Have you ever tried only to be stopped by William Misslefire? Oh sure you can create a new character and start all over again, But have you ever dreamed of what it would be like to take that seasoned adventurer, you’ve painstakingly built over the last couple of years, back to where it all began?
For obvious reasons the Beginner’s Cave has to be one of the most oft-played scenarios. Surely we must know it by heart! So Eamon Bluff is going to play to a pretty tough audience, right? Only a first-rate story teller could pull this one off. It’s the same everything and yet, it’s not the way you remember it. ‘You are at the mouth of a dark cave set into the hillside. A sign above you says (..ginn.rs..nly).. and goes south here into the mouth. Another sign here is splattered with blood with a skull and crossbones etched in it’. Thus begins your destiny with Deja vu. Make no mistake, this is not a rip-off. You know the old saying just when you think you’ve seen it all before, etc.
Eamon Bluff is the perfect time machine. H.G. Wells couldn’t have done it better. Tim Berge not only allows you to adventure into the past, but more specifically creates a journey through YOUR past. And this is what I liked best. I don’t know about you, but I suspect if we compared skeletons in our closets I’m not the only one who would like to go back and make things right. In the Beginner’s Cave I took anything and everything I could get. I stopped at nothing, not even murder; I killed the very friends that helped me through the cave, with one exception, Cynthia (for the reward of course). I wanted to sell their weapons so I could get even mare money. Take, take, take, you get the picture.
I know by now you’re probably asking yourself, among other things, Is it really possible to go back and change the past? And if so how will that affect my future? To find out, ‘borrow’ that horse again and wake up those monsters with the new battle-cry ‘Forward into the Past’!!
#52 The Devil’s Dungeon (5:3) by Jeanette Merrill
Reviewed by Steve Mahr
Extra Commands: Read, Drink; Open, Kiss
Playing Time: I to 1.5 hours
As I left the Main Hall, I was approached by a rather vile character who offered to show me a secret dungeon containing riches. With nothing better to do and the chance for an extra buck, I took him up on his offer. I wasn’t displeased.
It was a smaller dungeon, 55 rooms, with good descriptions. The laze was not difficult to follow and ‘LOOK’ did not find the secret passages. I actually had to think; an unreasonable requirement for a mead and wench loving adventurer.
The monetary rewards of this dungeon were not tremendous, but there were other benefits. And what a surprise I got when I tried to…, but that would be telling.
A battle scarred veteran would probably get a bit bored and be wishing for a skin of wine (I brought my own) and a fair wench (I tried but she refused). There were not a lot of monsters to vanquish, but some of the ones I met were certainly not pushovers.
All in all, The Devil’s Dungeon is a fairly good adventure, especially for one of the older Eamons. (Although the number is 52, this adventure was around for quite some time before it was added to the catalog. When I asked John why it was around a long time he grumbled something and said ‘shut up and write’. ) I would recommend it, especially for a novice player.
NOTICES & JUNK
by John Nelson
MISSING ADVENTURES
Since Adventures 32, 59, 71 and 88 have been discontinued, we are no longer distributing these. That leaves gaps in our adventure list, which we don’t like to have. If anyone knows of any Eamon adventures out there that are any good, we would like to get them and use them to fill in these spaces.
I am writing new adventures that I will use to fill these spaces as soon as they are finished, if no other adventures fill the slots first.
FROM THE ORDER DESK
Steve Mahr has taken over handling of large orders (whenever we can find him). Originally we were giving Steve all orders, but since that was creating unnecessary delay for small orders, we are now handling small orders ourselves and giving the larger ones to Steve. By having Steve process orders, we have time to work on bugs, more adventures and to do correspondence. If anyone is having problems with orders, please let us know.
Orders for documentation have not been filled yet, but will be by June 15. If you have ordered documentation and don’t receive it by June 20th or so, let us know. it’s possible it got by us. (Heaven forbid!)
NEW DISKETTE PRICES
Our diskette prices have been lowered to be brought more into line with what others are distributing for. We don’t know for sure why we are doing this, but you should order before we find out how much we’re losing. The current MEMBER prices are:
1-4 Diskettes $3.00 each
5-9 Diskettes 2.75 each
10 -19 Diskettes 2.50 each
20 -39 Diskettes 2.25 each
40 -up Diskettes 2.00 each
IS YOUR MEMBERSHIP EXPIRED??
That’s a good question. When we started the Club, we
were hoping everyone would Join at once. (How stupid can you get, right?)
Then everyone’s membership would expire at the same time. As people joined
afterwards we started back-dating their official start date so that it would be
the same as everyone else’s. When people continued to join later in the year we
had to change the way we did it. That means, for MOST of you, it is time to
send in your annual dues. We are printing the mailing labels with your effective
date of membership. If it states
BUG BYTES
by John Nelson
Bug reports over the past couple of months have been downright scarce! What few bugs we do have to report were from within our own testing here at the club.
I know there are more bugs out there, so how about helping us out and reporting them?
BUG FIXES OMITTED FROM INTERNET EDITION
DESIGNER’S DEN
by John Nelson
With Bob gone and wanting to get some fresh points of view, I’ve asked Jeff Harris (at sword point!) to give us a new perspective on some things he’d like to see in an adventure. When you’re designing these things, sometimes the designer gets into a rut of the same-old-stuff with very few new and creative twists. Jeff has come up with same wild ideas, which I’ll let him express, then (when I finish laughing) I’ll lake a few suggestions on how some of these ideas could be transferred into an Eamon adventure, programming-wise.
---John
Something completely different - by Jeff Harris
Well, it’s Springtime; John’s been rattling the bars on my cage again, so another winter’s hibernation is over. He’s stuck me with the title of Official Eamon Gadfly, so I might as well earn it:
PETS; Ever see the John Wayne movie ‘Big Jake’?
Remember Dawg, Duke’s four-legged companion? I’d like to meet an occasional
character (preferably a friend) wandering about with his/her trusty animal
sidekick. Now, no ‘real’ adventurer would take a Pekingese along; puppies,
kittens and guppies would not do on a monster hunt. I’m talking about
Dobermans, Mastiffs, or the occasional 1600 lb. polar bear. Or even some ‘exotic’
animal like a Pegasus, a tame firedrake, or an invisible six-foot rabbit named
A pet dragon that scorches locked
doors - or obnoxious visitors - upon command.
Faithful dogs that are trained to sniff out treasure, avoid traps,
and find their way out of mazes.
Trained ferrets to get into and out of tight places perhaps
scooping a little loot along the way.
Self-sufficiency...plenty of
corpses to feed a hungry pet.
For you space opera buffs, how
about a survival adventure/sabotage mystery aboard a lifeboat in space.
How about a Saturday Night at the
Olde Watering Hole - one large room with dozens of adventurers present.
For you AIRWOLF fans, BLUE THUNDER
addicts, etc., spend the entire adventure inside a one room aircraft (or a
Viking-like boat, etc.) ‘moving’ the vehicle in different directions, looking
for trouble and booty.
ARMS & ARMOUR: How many of you have ever heard of the Society for Creative Anachronism? Lotsa blank stares, eh, so let me explain: the SCA is a non-profit, educational organization based on the concept of ‘keep the Middle Ages alive by study and imitation.’ Science, technology and the arts have their own guilds; military equipment and tactics are perpetuated through tournaments, skirmishes and the occasional war; and such truly unpleasant things like plagues and famine are happily ignored. Anyway, I’ve been an authorized fighter for nearly four years, giving and getting my fair share of combat bruises. I’m currently phasing out my trusty conveyor-belt (similar to boiled leather) armor for some lovely steel plate, and 1 spend a considerable amount of time maintaining my weapons (rattan sticks reinforced with fiber-tape) and gear... the amount of wear-and-tear is phenomenal’ Which leads me to the topic of Arms and Armor. Once the stuff is bought and paid for, the Eamon enthusiast seldom gives it another thought. I find this rather disappointing - I can relate to August weekends frying in my armor, or melee fights where allies and enemies get inseparably mixed together (recognizable only by their armor), or long hours spent learning/perfecting the various weapon systems. Magic weapons and endless ATTACK commands are okay, but here’s what I’d like to see some more of:
An Exhaustion Factor. You put on 30
lbs. of heavy clothes and go play basketball for a while and maybe you’ll
appreciate this more.
Broken armor. Yes, it does break -
usually at the worst possible time. And it takes time and resources to fix...If
you know how (I’ve learned a little elementary blacksmithing building my SCA
plate).
Remember when the kunq-fu movie craze started? Here’s a basic movie plot:
1. Student learns kung-fu.
2. School is attacked, teacher shamed/injured.
3. Teacher passes along a ‘secret’ (i.e. ‘magic’) technique.
4. Student takes revenge on villains.
I’d like to see an adventure built along similar lines, with plenty of emphasis on steps 1 and 4.
Well, so much grumbling for this issue. Remember: BE CREATIVE!
John here again --- almost forgot about me, eh?
To go through some of these ideas, let’s examine how some of the could be implemented into Eamon adventures and what some of the problems are.
1. Pets - These are no real problem to do in Eamon,
except for a couple of minor points, a.) Being creative. It is fun to run into
a monster with an unusual pet. Try something different. Dreaming them up is
half the fun. You don’t want to use the old run-of-the-mill pets all the time.
b.) The pet should react the same as the monster. This gets a bit trickier, but
can be done. Check the adventure #48 Picnic in