Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Retrospective: Dungeon Masters Adventure Log

When I was younger, I had a strange fondness for office supplies – pens, paper, notebooks, binders, staples, etc. Whenever I was about to begin a new project for school, I'd pop down to the local office supply store and buy whatever supplies I thought were necessary for the completion of the task. For reasons that are obscure, I developed a strong association between office supplies and being "organized" and "prepared." 

Consequently, I was a ready mark for gaming accessories like TSR's Dungeon Masters Adventure Log. Appearing in 1980, it boasts of being "the second playing aid designed specifically for the DM of ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS™!" (the first presumably being the AD&D Dungeon Masters Screen). Further, the Adventure Log claims to free the referee from having to "rely on memory and sketchy notes to keep track of one's players in the midst of play." Nowadays, I wouldn't see much point in such a product, but, at the time, it appealed precisely to that part of me that thought the Trapper Keeper was the height of technological progress.

The Log is quite a simple product. After a few pages of reproducing various AD&D rules charts, ranging from the genuinely useful (like AC modifiers and XP tables) to the downright esoteric (magical aging causes), the meat of the product consists of a series of two-page spreads that look like this:

On the left hand side, there's space for detailing up to ten player characters. There are columns for most of the expected information, such as player and character names, class, level, race, sex, alignment, hit points, and so on. On the right hand side, there are spaces for marching order, monsters encountered, treasure acquired, light sources, and "unusual events." None of this is especially innovative, but I loved it all the same and made regular use of it at my table. I feel a bit silly about it now, but such is the folly of youth.

Despite the relative weakness of its design (and limitations of its layout), there are nevertheless three things that stand out a noteworthy about the Dungeon Masters Adventure Log. The first is the terrific cover illustration illustration by Erol Otus. The second is a four-page centerfold that provides illustrations of many common pieces of AD&D armor and weaponry. Here's a page to give you an idea of what it all looked like:
This, along with the weapon illustrations, was genuinely useful to me, if only because it made it clear that a Lucerne hammer was not, in fact, a blunt weapon). The third and final thing the Log provided were filled-out sample pages of its interior. Besides showing how the product was supposed to be used, it was fun, as you can see:
Click on the image above and take a look at some of the players and the character names. Notice that not only does Black Dougal die (again!), but so too does Sister Rebecca. I have no idea if the information on these pages in any way represents an actual adventure session played by the people involved, but, even if it doesn't, I find it fascinating for the way it depicts the supposed content of such a session. This is why is still retain a certain fondness for the Dungeon Masters Adventure Log after all these years.

24 comments:

  1. "For reasons that are obscure, I developed a strong association between office supplies and being "organized" and "prepared." "

    We're about the same age. I'm going to blame it on internalizing the endless marketing for school supplies when we were young. They seriously pushed that stuff hard back in the Seventies and Eighties. There were Trapper Keeper ads in comic books back then, for cripes sake.

    I never registered on it before, but a year after this came out TSR published Revolt On Antares, a Tom Moldvay boardgame that includes a character named Black Dougal Mackenzie. Coincidence, an echo of memory, or an homage to Mister Hendryx's deceased character? Maybe just repurposing a small handful of names, although all the other Revolt character names are originals AFAIK.

    Also can't help but notice that Tom's playing the at least somewhat legendary Morgan Ironwolf herself, who shows up in various play examples in the Basic set next year and gets illustrated by none other than Jeff Dee himself. Of course the Basic set also claims Morgan's player was a woman and kills Black Dougal again, this time with poison. :)

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    1. It looks like Morgan is a female in this product also. I really like the game story that is being told too - something I enjoy in the different products, as referenced in the basic rules by Moldvay.

      I also have an affinity for office supplies and feel organized by having them.

      I don't personally think it is silly to like this product - a nice clean way to track dungeon progress. Technology has made that much easier for us now, which I greatly appreciate in my own games.

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    2. Morgan herself is always a woman - but the Basic set also insists that her player is female, and here we have Tom Moldvay playing the character. AFAIK Moldvay identified as male throughout his life.

      Must've borrowed the character when Morgan's creator didn't show up for the session, eh? That'll do for headcanon, anyway. :)

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    3. The worst confession; I had a crush on Morgan Ironwolf (her picture in Original Basic D&D, anyway). Of course I was 8 years old, maybe that makes I better 😂

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    4. Worse than the fact that every time I hear the name my first thought is that it's some male porn star? Read too much of Mike Grell's Warlord comic as a kid and "Morgan" is always a male name to me (even if it was the character's surname there) and Ironwolf sounds way too much like Bill Willingham's old Ironwood porn comic. Can't un-stick the connection in my brain and I always have to remind myself exactly who she is.

      Having a crush on Jeff Dee art as a kid seems better to me than faulty neural wiring. :)

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    5. I believe the text accompanying the creation of Morgan Ironwolf in the Basic Rulebook indicates that her name is based on that of Morgan le Fay from Arthurian legend.

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    6. Yep, or maybe Morgana. Still can't escape from my malfunctioning brain matter, though. :)

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  2. Oi! No shade on the Trapper Keeper, please. It was worlds improved over the Pee-Chee Folder, not least in that it came in colors other than Athletic Yellow.

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    1. I still have my old Trapper Keepers and use them for RPG material.

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  3. Man, I still love the Adventure Log, and would be using my ancient copy were it not so, well, ancient and still half-filled. Now I just take notes on mini legal pads, though as the marketing of the Log stated, that can get sketchy when sheets start falling off.

    I recently picked up the latest iteration of the Trapper Keeper, as yes, I used those back in the day, too, and adored them. Sadly the modern version is nowhere near as solidly constructed; also it only included two folders, which were not made available for sale separately (though the related Five Star folders are almost the same and work fairly well). I set up the most space-oriented of the four versions as my Starships & Spacemen campaign folder, with all my notes and developments, and then the campaign never got... launched... for the usual kinds of reasons. Maybe someday.

    Now Walmart has their remaining stock of Trapper Keepers on sale in their Clearance section. Oh well.

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  4. We might mock it now, but in the before times there was a case for the DM to have a separate, well organised list of the PCs' stats.

    Consider a player who wants to take their character record sheet away with them.

    There's no reason why they shouldn't, but it ishugely inconvenient if they miss the next session or forget to bring it.

    These days I'd just take a photo with my phone or take a quick copy.

    But those options weren't available.

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    1. I still keep a completely separate DM version of all the character sheets with stuff on it the players don't know. Isn't that a must-have?

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    2. To be filed under "People Have Very Different Experiences With Roleplaying" I've never once had a GM want to keep my character sheet, and only once had one ask for a copy to keep on file. The whole idea of someone - what, collecting the sheets at the end of each session, is that how it works? - is entirely novel to me.

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    3. Not at all. The player has their own sheet created at roll up and kept up-to-date by the player---it's their to keep, lose, whatever. The DM has a secret "official" copy for combat, saves and other purposes...filled out with things the player doesn't know (e.g. what each magic item really does, effects of curses, etc.).

      Too much for the DM to remember without it.

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    4. Huh. I always just stuck that sort of info in my general campaign notes. Guess it would be more organized to have annotated duplicate character sheets, wouldn't it?

      Kind of surprised I've never run into a DM who did that now. Or maybe they did and I just never knew about it.

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    5. Can a DM trust a player to keep the sole record of his own Gold and XP? Hmmm... dubious...

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  5. I too love the implied adventure and notes on the inside back-cover of the DM Log, and like to think that they're a look behind-the-scenes at TSR like the Rogues Gallery, although like some of that book's Personalities depictions, it's just as likely that the DM Log adventure details were invented on the spot with no relation to actual play ;)

    Steve Marsh's original PC sheets for Illysio Morningstar indicate a few differences vs. the DM Log's entry:

    - first name is Illyssia
    - level is 4/4 in Phoenix/Healer classes (!)
    - magic items don't include a scroll, but do include a +1 sword (in an earlier version) as well as a Cold Sword +3/+5, Bracers AC3, a Shield +4, and some other interesting items

    Allan.

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  6. This was a landmark product for me back then. Just seeing it now stirs the heart.

    Agree with much of what's been said. Would only add:

    Look at that amazing Erol Otus front cover! This is a perfect depiction of D&D for me.

    And, is that Jeff Dee's lettering that's filled out the sample pages?

    Thanks for the memories, James. Again!

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  7. A few years back I did a post on the oddities of the Adventure Log entries:

    AD&D Adventure Log sample entry oddities

    There are some really odd bits there.

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    1. That's interesting. A couple of thoughts:

      I had several DMs who disliked the fixed HP for dragons and tweaked them by adding +/- die rolls to the value. Always assumed that was their homebrew, but maybe it was something picked up at a con and some TSR folks were doing it too?

      AD&D seemed to produce enormous numbers of fighters with exceptional strength scores. I'd call shenanigans, but the third campaign I ever played in (think I was eleven at the time) three of us at a table of six rolled 18/96 strengths. Should have played the lottery after that one. Also the first time I roleplayed with a couple doing some serious necking on the couch in the background. Weird the things that stick in your head.

      Stat-adjusting furniture was pretty popular IME, usually as a GM special that put you through some puzzle or test and increased or reduced a stat or stats depending on how you did. Usually it was a chair, sometimes a bed, and one guy even had an animated metal horse statue that did the same thing. Wonder if it was all inspired by this, or if it was drawn from some folk story/fairy tale? Something like John Smith and the Devil, maybe?

      https://www.anvilfire.com/article.php?bodyName=/21centbs/stories/John_the_Blacksmith.htm

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  8. I used the Adventure Log while I DM'd B4 but gave up on it soon after. Then I ran across it in a box two decades later and the entries really brought back memories and I regretted not using it more.

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  9. Of course only now am I reminded that I recreated parts of the log with my Advanced Labyrinth Lord Adventure Record Sheets. I used them during in person play prior to the Pandemic.

    When I finally got around to running online I'd forgotten about them. I'll have to print some out and start using them again. Huzzah for those Trapper Keepers!

    https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/279538/Advanced-Labyrinth-Lord-Adventure-Record-Sheets?manufacturers_id=2438

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  10. I still use the knock-offs on Mad Irishman's site.

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  11. I'd seen the log before but never looked at the sample adventure details recorded on it. That's neat!

    I remember reading somewhere that the Splint Mail, Ring Mail, Studded Leather, and Banded armor types illustrated and added in AD&D mostly were mostly the result of Gary using an outdated 19th century history book and that none of these types (as described in D&D) really existed in reality... I wonder if finding room for this spurious addition helped produce the annoying AC 10 or AC 9 issue that has confused the OSR ever since...





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