Misplaced Pages

#586413

32-531: The Moonshae Trilogy is a series of novels by Douglas Niles , set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. Darkwalker on Moonshae , the first novel in the series, was the very first Forgotten Realms novel ever published. The Moonshae Trilogy takes place on the Moonshae Isles , and involves a young prince on his way to unite all the people on the islands. Douglas Niles Niles

64-543: A 'one-off' game - good for a break but unlikely to have lasting appeal. It is fun, however, and no matter what crazy stunt you attempt, Indy will survive." Steve Crow reviewed The Adventures of Indiana Jones in Space Gamer No. 73. Crow commented that " Indiana Jones is so locked into the concept of the two movies that it is practically useless for anything outside of reenacting the movies or similar plots. FGU's Daredevils and Hero Games' Justice Inc. both take

96-463: A broader look at the genre of 30s roleplaying, giving you a chance to take your life into your own hands with characters of your own creation. Indiana Jones does neither." In Issue 22 of the French games magazine Casus Belli , Dennis Gerfaud noted "The originality of the game lies in the fact that we do not create characters: they are already there. We can only play Indiana Jones and his friends:

128-489: A half-written novel and some notes from my campaign, I applied for a design job. I went through five interviews, and gradually convinced them that I could do the job.” Niles was hired by TSR in January 1982, as a game designer . “For the first few weeks I reviewed and critiqued outside submissions, and I wasn’t too good at it. I kept pestering my boss, Al Hammack, for a design assignment, and finally he gave me an old brief for

160-558: A note to get out of class that afternoon because she was going to be interviewed by People magazine. Her name was Heidi Gygax. I asked her why People wanted to interview her, and she told me that her father had invented the Dungeons & Dragons game. Well, I had heard of D&D , but didn’t know that the designer lived so close to me. The next day, Heidi brought me a copy of the original D&D Basic Set , and two days later, I got some friends together and played my first game. I

192-653: A novice-level module, Cult of the Reptile God , and told me to write it. I completed it in four weeks, and it was published. I don’t know whether they liked it because it was good, or because I did it in only four weeks.” Niles worked on more than just D&D for TSR, “In the summer of 1982, I designed my first game, the Knight Hawks rules for the Star Frontiers game, with much help from my editor, Steve Winter .” Niles produced several modules for

224-421: A particular timeline, while others are left to the player's discretion. Designed for 2 to 8 players, the game is run and scenes are laid out by a game master , called a referee. Each adventure pack specifies which of pre-made characters are available to be played, and provide a character dossier which displays their attributes, abilities, and a health chart. Provided maps, tables, and cut-out game pieces represent

256-499: A small pyramid trophy made of Perspex. Beginning in 2000, the trophy became known as the " Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming ".) In 1994, West End Games acquired the rights to publish their own Indiana Jones role-playing game, The World of Indiana Jones . The setting of the game is historical, 1930's pulp era. Players can choose to set aspects of the game at any point in the mid-to-late 1930s. Some adventure packs establish

288-501: Is based on the Indiana Jones movie franchise. In 1984, TSR gained the license to make a role-playing game based on Indiana Jones . It was released as a boxed set designed by John Byrne and David "Zeb" Cook , with artwork by Robert Amsel, Larry Elmore , Dennis Kauth, and Dave "Diesel" LaForce . A set of pewter miniatures was also marketed in 1984 for use with the game, which the players could choose to use instead of

320-403: Is that the characters are defined once and for all and that they risk 'wearing out' quite quickly." In his 1990 book The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games , game critic Rick Swan noted the difficulty of playing with a large group, since everyone wants to play the titular character. He concluded by giving the game a rating of 2.5 out of 4, saying, "For small groups of fans willing to share

352-779: The D&;D game, including X3 Curse of Xanathon , B5 Horror on the Hill , CM1 Test of the Warlords , and H1 Bloodstone Pass , and Dragonlance modules DL2 Dragons of Flame , DL6 Dragons of Ice , DL9 Dragons of Deceit , and DL11 Dragons of Glory . Niles is the designer of 1985's World War II: European Theatre of Operations , a grand strategic game. Niles worked on the Battlesystem Supplement, Star Frontiers modules SF4 Mission to Alcazzar and SFKH1 Dramune Run , Indiana Jones module IJ2 Raiders of

SECTION 10

#1732772578587

384-546: The 'good guys' in the film." Gerfaud found the system that allows a player to use accumulated Player Points to limit combat damage "an interesting experience system." Gerfaud concluded, "Obviously, this game is aimed at true fans of Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark. In Issue 30 of the French games magazine Jeu et Stratégie Michel Brassinne found that the game had "all the ingredients that have made suspense films, humor and non-stop action successful. The only drawback

416-646: The King (with Mary Kirchoff), and The Last Thane . He contributed nine novels to the Forgotten Realms line, including the Moonshae trilogy and two further trilogies in the Forgotten Realms. He has won both the H.G. Wells award and the Origins award for his work in developing adventure games. In 1990, he left TSR to write fantasy fiction. Niles has written two World War II alternate history novels, Fox on

448-711: The Lost Ark , the World War II Game, the Sirocco Strategy Game (with Zeb Cook ), and the Endless Quest books EQ #26 Tarzan and the Well of Slaves and Super EQ #3 Escape From Castle Quarras for TSR. Tracy Hickman had gotten Harold Johnson , Jeff Grubb , Carl Smith , and Larry Elmore in on the idea of Dragonlance before Margaret Weis and Niles joined them. Niles authored the rulebook Dungeoneer's Survival Guide (1986). Niles

480-771: The Rhine and Fox at the Front (co-authored with Michael Dobson ). Released in hardcover by Forge , a division of TOR , "Fox" has been both a main selection of the Military Book Club and a Featured selection of the Science Fiction Book Club . Niles and Dobson also later wrote the World War II alternate history novel MacArthur's War . Niles has created two fantasy worlds in books published by Ace Fantasy. The Watershed Trilogy ( A Breach in

512-570: The Watershed , Darkenheight , The War of Three Waters ) was completed in the late 1990s, and it features a continent divided by mountains into three distinct basins: watersheds of pure, normal water; of magical liquid (Aura); and of vile, poisonous Darkblood. Circle at Center , Worldfall , and The Goddess Worldweaver form the Seven Circles Trilogy, which details a cosmos in which historical characters from Earth can be drawn into

544-524: The Wisconsin countryside, with his wife Christine and his son David. His daughter, Allison, served overseas as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom . His hobbies include hiking, bicycling, playing the guitar, and spending time with his friends and family. The Adventures of Indiana Jones Role-Playing Game The Adventures of Indiana Jones Role-Playing Game is a licensed pulp style action-adventure role-playing game published by TSR in 1984 that

576-854: The board game A Line in the Sand (1991), which focused on the Gulf War between the US and Iraq; it was one of the projects originating from TSR West, and was published the day the US started bombing because Flint Dille convinced the company president to move quickly. Niles has written numerous novels, mainly for the Dragonlance series. Niles is one of the most prolific Dragonlance authors, and in addition to Wizard's Conclave , his Dragonlance titles include The Icewall Trilogy ( The Messenger , The Golden Orb , Winterheim ), Emperor of Ansalon , The Dragons , The Puppet King , Fistandantilus Reborn , Flint

608-455: The cardboard cutouts that were provided with each book. Although a number of adventures and supplements were published in 1984 and 1985, the game did not sell well. The company eventually allowed the license to expire, and publication stopped. All unsold copies of the game were destroyed at that time. (Employees at the UK office of TSR Hobbies mounted a portion of the burnt remains of the last copy in

640-427: The game structure is spot on, the execution is poor, making me feel overall that the game is a missed opportunity." Adrian Knowles reviewed The Adventures of Indiana Jones for White Dwarf #61, giving it an overall rating of 7 out of 10, and stated that "Although I found the game to be quite enjoyable (but then I had spend [ sic ] the evening propping up a bar before tackling it) it only has appeal as

672-409: The game: Strength (physical strength), Movement (action speed), Prowess (manual dexterity, coordination), Backbone (courage, determination), Instinct (perception, intuition), and Appeal (personality, physical attractiveness). When a particular feat is attempted, a check is made against the character's appropriate attribute by rolling a d100. Modifiers to the roll or attribute may be applied by

SECTION 20

#1732772578587

704-408: The highest movement attribute have the chance to act first with a check against that attribute. Whether one is able to land a blow depends on a check against their prowess attribute, and the amount of damage done is determined by a "Modified Check Table" provided in the game rules. There are three levels of damage: light, medium, and serious. The reversed number rolled for the prowess check, looked up on

736-462: The lead [role], Indiana Jones can be a lot of fun." Five years later, while reviewing West End Games' The World of Indiana Jones in Dragon #215, Swan recalled TSR's product, and blamed its quick demise on both the "elementary mechanics" and the lack of a character creation system, pointing out that "Instead of dreaming up your own PC, you simply assumed the role of your favorite character from

768-467: The modules published had no specific year in which the adventure took place; however, the setting of Temple of Doom was in 1935, and the setting of Raiders of the Lost Ark was in 1936. Material from the comic series, Further Adventures of Indiana Jones was used for plots in some of the TSR publications. Paul Mason reviewed The Adventures of Indiana Jones for Imagine magazine, and stated that "while

800-402: The provided "Action Results Table" determines where the blow landed, if not otherwise decided by the referee. Other forms of combat, such as shooting are done in the same way, only the provided maps must be used to determine range and line of sight. No formal system of hit points or determining actual character death is put forth, and instead is left to the referee as a role-play element. Most of

832-492: The realms of magic, through sorcery both deadly and erotic. Niles has designed dozens of games for TSR, Inc. and SPI , including award-winning boardgames based on Tom Clancy 's novels The Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising , and has also created numerous historical military boardgames, including the massive games European Theatre of Operations and Pacific Theatre of Operations . Niles resides in Delavan , in

864-443: The referee, based on game circumstances. If one rolls lower than their modified attribute score, the action is successful. If it is higher, the action fails. Outcome is determined by the referee. The character generation rules for the TSR game was introduced in the accessory pack IJAC1, Judge's Survival Guide, a year after the game was introduced. Combat is done in turns, each of which equals five seconds of in-game time. Players with

896-417: The setting and characters, and are used to determine character positioning, range, line of sight, and movement. The players choose one of seven pre-made characters based on those from the movies: Indiana Jones , Marion Ravenwood , Short Round , Willie Scott , Sallah (the digger), Jock Lindsay (the pilot), or Wu Han (an old friend of Indy's). Each character has seven attributes to decide basic factors in

928-426: The themes of the game are centered on the movies and comics, with Indiana Jones and his companions procuring items of archeological importance, while battling Nazis , rival archeologists, violent natives, gangsters, and anything else the referee chooses to put forth in the storyline. Even in the prepared adventure packs, sequence results are largely left open to player determination based on referee guidance. Many of

960-469: Was already working on a trilogy of novels with a Celtic theme to be published by TSR, Ltd., which he then modified to become the first novels set in the Forgotten Realms , starting with Darkwalker on Moonshae (1987). Niles also co-authored The City of Greyhawk boxed set with Carl Sargent , for which he designed the 96-page booklet Greyhawk: Gem of the Flanaess . Niles and Paul Lidberg designed

992-838: Was born in Brookfield, Wisconsin , a suburb of Milwaukee , and his family moved to Nashotah , a small town to the north, when he was twelve years old. Niles developed an interest in heroic fantasy , as well as wargaming , and began writing short stories and making short films in high school. Niles attended the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh , where he majored in speech and minored in English. While there, he met Chris Schroeder, whom he married three years later. After graduation, Niles began teaching Speech and English at Clinton High School , about 30 miles away from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin . “One day, one of my students came up and said she had

The Moonshae Trilogy - Misplaced Pages Continue

1024-531: Was the DM.” A few years later, one of the players in Niles' D&D campaign went to work for Dragon magazine. According to Niles, “One day, he told me that TSR was hiring editors, and I applied for a job. I took the editing test, which consisted of a 14 page manuscript I was supposed to mark up. I only found three things to change. . . and flunked the test. But TSR was also hiring game designers, and so, armed with

#586413