Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) with the more sophisticated Advanced Dungeons & Dragons following in 1977. The game served as one of the inspirations for Donald Brown's Eamon and SwordThrust series, Brown having been introduced to it in the late 1970s by his friend Bill Fesselmeyer.
Influence on Eamon
Many plot points found in Eamon adventures—sometimes the entire adventure—have been straightforward adaptations of Dungeons and Dragons adventure scenarios. The material of The Creature of Rhyl by Robert Parker is taken from adventure modules, the essential features having been published in Dragon magazine. The adventure was "buried" by Tom Zuchowski during his tenure at the Eamon Adventurer's Guild due to fears of TSR's litigious reputation.
Beyond the cases of adaptations of Dungeons and Dragons modules, the influence has been great on the creatures inhabiting Eamon. For example, one of the first monsters Eamon adventurers encounter in The Beginners Cave is the "mimic"—a creature capable of taking on the appearance of any object—which is a creature original to Dungeons and Dragons. A number of adventures, such as Fiends of Eamon, feature menageries of the idiosyncratic monsters of Dungeons and Dragons, e.g. the "wandering minstrel eye" of The Lair of the Minotaur makes a guest appearance and is shown to be a singing "beholder," a one-eyed, floating creature from Dungeons and Dragons lore.
The relationship between Dungeons and Dragons and Eamon has also at times given rise to tongue-in-cheek rivalry. Nathan Segerlind's adventures The Bridge of Catzad-Dum and The Lair of Mr. Ed both feature encounters with "D&D Fanatics"; one such fanatic is described in the former case as "[t]he strangest person [the player] has ever seen in [the player's] life" with a "dazed look in his eyes" and the latter encounter being described as a vicious, "seething horde" led by Gary Gygax (creator of Dungeons and Dragons) himself.
A number of Eamon authors have also had professional relationships with Dungeons and Dragons and TSR. Rick Krebs, the author of Flying Circus and Blood Feud was a game designer for TSR, contributing to the creation of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons and writing for TSR's Dragon magazine. Robert Plamondon, the coauthor of The Temple of Ngurct, also wrote for Dragon magazine, ultimately compiling his articles for that publication in the Dungeons and Dragons-themed book Through Dungeons Deep.
Gallery
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The original 1974 edition -
The 1977 Basic Set -
The AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide -
