Cartoons From 1981 Wizardry CRPG Manual
The game manual for 1981’s "Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord" Apple II computer game contained several humorous cartoons drawn by Will McLean. These are my favorites:
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It is Year 87(Imperial Calendar)for Xenograg fiction -
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- Beneath the Official Pantheon Was a Layer of Demons
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November (9)
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June (11)
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May (4)
April (12)
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March (20)
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February (13)
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January (19)
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November (23)
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September (18)
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- Greek Jeweled Pendant Necklace
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- A Substitute For Lackluster Stakes
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June (24)
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- Throat and Groin
- Some Magic Is Too Powerful to Sustain
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- We Are Protectors Not Warriors
- The Last Unicorn
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- Not Today
- Not Light in Terms of Protection
- Our Deepest Fear
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- Leaving the Master Behind
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- There Never Is Just One Hobgoblin
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- Bow Down Before Your Master!
- Put to Rest the Soul of a Valiant Hero
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May (20)
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- Additions to "Other Fiction"
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- A Six-Demon Bag
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- Provisioning a Medieval Army
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April (21)
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- Danger and I Are Old Companions
- My Fear Is My Concern
- Koku in Dungeons & Dragons: for Daimyō
- You Have No Power Over Me
- Bad Luck To Kill a Wizard
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- Feudal Military Organization Was on the Whole Highly Effective
- Many Defeats and Many Fruitless Victories
- Visualizing Xenograg at His Current Age
- From Mount Olympus to the Himalayas
- TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 28
- Koku in Dungeons & Dragons: for Samurai
- An Acceptable Balance Between Weapon Weight and Size
- A Hogmanay To Be Remembered
- Plate Armor Should Be Not Just Expensive But Restricted
- I Am a River to My People
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- All Pilgrims Share a Deep Love of Life
- Furniture in Medieval Europe
March (21)
- Hatamoto
- Medieval Food and Drink
- Considerable Logistics of Medieval Knights at War
- TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 26
- The Surprise Reversed
- Swords Were Thought to Have Miraculous Powers
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- Worldbuilding in Under Two Minutes: Television Cartoon Opening Sequences
- TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 24
- Fundamental Importance of Foot Soldiers in Battle
- Ready to Unsheathe It Instantly
- Ancient States Did Not Maintain Permanent Embassies
- A Besieging Army Is Vulnerable to Outside Attack
- Zero-Level Characters, Part 5: Rogues
- Origin of the Regiment and Battalion
- Armor Is Unacceptable in Civilian Venues
- Rise of the Japanese Merchant Class
- TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 23
- Samurai As Generic Term
- Gold Mycenaean Octopus Brooch
- Amputation Threatened Either Death or Lifelong Poverty
February (19)
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- The Legend of Skara Brae
- Defensive Magic
- End of Medieval Warfare
- Iron Crown of Lombardy
- Noble Retainers, Common-born Servitors, and Peasant Servants
- TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 21
- People Are Cheap, Things Are Expensive
- In the Alphabet of Trees They Speak
- Wall of Infinite Elements
- You Are Touched By Darkness
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- Your Men Love You
- Going For the Kill
- The Dice are Not Your Friend
- Shield Proficiency in (OSR) D&D
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- The Battle of Sudden Flame
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January (15)
- A Happy Hunting Ground
- I Kept Dreaming of a World I Thought I'd Never See
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- Separate Spells for Healing Yourself and Healing Others
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- University of Rigel Medical Center at Rhydin
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- Magical Defenders of the Solar System, Redux
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December (15)
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- Fear Is a Superpower
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- Whatever It Takes
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November (16)
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- Guile
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- When a Man Lies, He Murders Some Part of the World
- Sixteenth-Century Military Medicine
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- When I Get Around To It
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- Single Richest Prize of His Swashbuckling Career
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- Men Who Lived Deeper in the Shadows
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October (16)
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- That's Worse Than Murder
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- Warriors Fought Their First Battles At a Youthful Age
- The Cosmos Operated Through Regular Rhythms and Periodic Events
- Reveal Themselves in Word and Action
- Only the Most Skilled Sorcerer Alive Would Dare
- Armor Class Penalty For Not Wearing a Helmet
September (14)
- Religion Is Not Something That Gives Comfort
- Cost of Plate Armor in Modern Money
- I Neither Fear Nor Resist Nature's Power
- A Wand Is Gentle With Power
- Banishing Is Essential in Magical Practice
- In Search of Adventure, Prestige, and Fortune
- I Rather Prefer a Dragon
- Crossbowmen Were Considered an Elite Corps
- Gift Exchange Revolves Around Three Obligations
- I Give That You Might Give
- Unacceptable Magic Is Usually Attributed to Foreigners
- Through Magic We Can Explore Mutuality
- Evolution of Spiritual Powers
- Armies Are Like Prize Fighters
August (9)
July (4)
June (3)
May (6)
March (6)
February (7)
January (10)
- The Dream of Taliesin
- A King Expects To Be Followed
- Captains Held Enormous Power Over Their Companies
- Not All Recruits Were Base-born: the Gentleman-rankers
- Any Troops Could Fight a Battle But It Required Trained Veterans to Win a Skirmish
- It Is Never Too Early to Teach a Future King
- Will You Give Me Your Prisoner, Or Must I Take Him?
- Good Men Don't Need Rules
- Elemental Blade of Fire
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December (16)
- War Stories Always Forgot the Dust
- Transmuted From One Form Into Another
- Once They Had Been Greater In Number
- Artificial Distinctions In Fantasy Magic
- Humanoids Would Wear Their Personal Wealth
- Magic Use Elicits Strong Reactions
- On the Living and the Dead
- A Warrior Society Does Not Last Long if the Warriors Are Too Eager to Get Killed
- Inscriptions Charged With Occult Force
- Preserving Magical Knowledge For Adepts As Yet Unborn
- The Magical and Musical Arts Are Entwined
- The Plan, Part One: the Monastery of Arra
- The Great Goddess Cherished Only Life Itself
- Non-Mages Are Amateurs Not Cripples
- Faith and Belief Do Not Matter Much in Most Religions
- To Limit Immersion in the Wells of Power
November (10)
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- Japanese Versus Chinese Martial Arts Styles
- Motivation Is Emotional Investment
- Human Beings Have Affinities with the Physical World
- Power of Reflection
- The Cossack-Sorcerers
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October (11)
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- Heroes Always Emerge In A Time Of Dying
- Tricking Monsters To Death
- Sekigahara
- Subject to Divine, Human, and Demonic Manipulation
- Monsters Are Made To Be So
- A Bad Age For a Man
- The Power To Crush Diamonds
- Load and Fire
- A Thousand Arrows In Its Defense
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September (11)
August (7)
July (7)
June (6)
May (16)
- I See a Red Sash, I Kill the Man Wearing It
- All Non-Hominids Are Psykers
- The Greeks Were the Vikings of the Bronze Age
- Terrifying Initiation Ordeals
- Jinn: Neither Angels Nor Devils
- The American Spiritual Temper Is Unconsciously Calvinist
- The Cost To Be a Knight
- Odic Shields and Shrouds of Concealment
- One Sharp Knife
- Why There Is No Justice in The World
- To Feed and Protect Our Families
- Never Run From Anything Immortal
- A Weapon Against the Dark But Also a Beacon That Summons It
- 'Woke Up' Has Always Been an Anthropomorphism
- Search Functionality Added
- The Air of the Town Makes You Free
April (13)
- No Rules In Mortal Combat
- To Test Your Powers Or Prove Their Own
- Battle-Hardened But Still a Squire
- Why There Are So Many Dungeons
- Double Winners of the Medal of Honor
- The Wand Is a Symbol of the Will
- Blood Sacrifice Was the Central Religous Ritual
- Blogging About Roleplaying
- Athena Was Not Always a War Goddess
- Everyone Is Religious
- Patriarchal Olympian Dominance
- The Reason for the Seasons
- Violent Logic of Feudalism
March (6)
February (6)
January (10)
- Unarmed Combat in Full Armor
- Retinue of Retinues
- Unseen But Nonetheless Real
- Don't Look For Your Opponent
- Use Your Weakness
- Being Willing
- Men-at-Arms Would Continue To Fight Despite Wounds
- Few Deaths While Combat Remained Undecided
- Medieval Battlefield Medicine Was Not Primitive
- A World Where Chaos Was the Reverse Side of Order
2021 (69)
December (7)
- Hard Bargaining Was the Essence of the Lord-Vassal Relationship
- A Magical Sword Is Used to Command, Banish, and Defeat Spirits
- Military Incongruities in the Iliad
- The Iliad and Dungeons & Dragons
- There Is No Block
- Different Fortifications Against Raids Versus Sieges
- Where the Power for Spells Comes From
November (13)
- Trial by Combat Was a Legal Privilege
- The Composite Bow Did Have Limitations
- Castle Life in Winter
- Magical Practice Required Specialist Knowledge
- Iron Did Not Replace Bronze
- The First Martial Arts Schools in Japan
- Fiefs Were Measured By How Much Food They Produced
- The Risk of Literalizing Fantastical Concepts
- Fire Is a Living Thing
- Sandmagic
- Weapons Are Not Everything
- Always a Toll in the Underworld
- A Locus of Strange Energy
October (7)
September (21)
- A Khyber Knife
- Blinkblades
- There Comes a Time
- Our Swords Against Their Swords
- The Demon Who Makes Trophies of Men
- Dreamers, Shapers, Singers, and Makers
- Warmth and Competence
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- Religion, Socializing, and Gods
- Monster Difficulty Should Increase Slightly Faster Than Characters' Abilities
- Good and Evil Are Moral Extremes
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- The Sorcerer as Terrorist
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- Dwarves Before Tolkien and Disney
- A Wildly Unstable Environment
- Dwarves of Belegost
- Ancient War Was More Civilized
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2019 (4)
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June (3)
2014 (7)
December (3)
November (1)
2013 (4)
December (1)
November (1)
April (1)
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2012 (11)
December (1)
November (1)
October (1)
September (2)
August (2)
2011 (17)
September (7)
August (1)
July (3)
June (1)
2010 (21)
December (2)
November (6)
August (1)
February (6)
2009 (19)
December (2)
October (3)
September (2)
August (4)
July (1)
March (1)
2008 (99)
November (4)
September (1)
August (2)
July (1)
May (91)
- Silver and Gold Coinage
- Birth of the Caliphate
- A Weak King Was Not a King
- Money in Ptolemaic Egypt
- Pervasiveness of Warfare In Early States
- The Immense Wealth of the Persian Kings
- Three Checks to Autocracy
- Assyrian Bureaucracy
- Chiefdoms Are Powerful But Fragile
- Personal Honor As Instrument of Social Control
- Confucian Mandate of Heaven
- An Immoral Ruler Undermines His Own Legitimacy
- Princes and their Personal Realms
- Warrior or Hired Killer?
- Imagining the Centaur
- Fire, the First Enshrined Divinity
- The Rapier Was the Blade of Choice
- Assyrians Were Ancient Masters of the Siege
- Gods from the Bicameral Mind
- Money and Manpower Wins Wars
- The Iliad Is Not Just a Glorious Poem
- Not a General's Affair
- The Bow Was the Chief Weapon in Japanese Warfare
- Ritual Sacrifice: Establishing Beneficial Relations With Blood
- On Dragoons
- Versatility of the Napoleonic Army Corps
- Romans Made War As Much Business As Art
- Assyrians: the Pioneers with Iron
- Heavy Infantry With a Vengeance: the Greek Phalanx
- Redefinition of Courage
- Bronze: the Plastic of Its Age
- Oracles Work
- Maintaining the Diversity Within the Divine
- On Man's Side
- Ancient Asiatic Spiritual Traditions
- Sacred Power Spots
- Assyrian Army of the Sargonid Period
- Dueling and the God of Peer Opinion
- Courage, Not Manners, Was the Hallmark of a Gentleman
- Distinction Between Shamans, Magicians, and Priests
- Parthian Feudalism
- There Are Nine Types of Generals
- From Jousting for Glory to Dueling for Honor
- Hunnic Bow and Mongolian Release
- No Match for a Well-Trained Aristocrat
- Militant Clergy
- Transformation of the Hoplite Phalanx
- Advantages of Swords Over Pistols in Dueling
- Only Gentlemen Had Honor
- Theme of a Warrior Culture
- Hoplite Shield Was an Engineering Marvel
- The Subject of Heroic Poetry is the Hero
- Prepared to Die But Not to Kill
- Birth of Cavalry
- Cavalry Replaces Chariots in Chinese Art of War
- Backstabbing Assassins, Not Knights of the Air
- From Hunters to Warriors
- Religious Rituals of War
- Hand-to-Hand Combat Was Rare in Ancient Warfare
- Assaulting Cities is the Oldest Expression of Warfare
- Capacities of Commanders
- Five Skills And Four Desires of Generalship
- The Rights-Based System of Medieval Society
- Eight Kinds of Decadence in Generalship
- Birth of the Alphabet
- Zenith of the Castle
- The Fickle Deity, Pan
- Looking At The Enemy
- Inside the Greek Phalanx
- Regimental Proprietary System
- From Ghazi to Sipahi
- The Challenge of Making Steel
- Before the Fencing Master
- Condottieri Usurpation of the Princely States
- Flirting with Deification
- Insuperable Problems
- Earth and the Heavens
- Shamans and Their Inner Journeys
- The Despised Foot Soldier
- War Became an End in Itself: Assyria
- Early Iron Age Armies
- Stay Awake to Death
- Art of Japanese Spear Fighting
- Steppe Ponies, Not Horses
- Beginning of Science
- The Spiritual Hunt and Spiritual Warfare
- Material Cost Versus Psychological Benefit of Sieges
- Exorcism in Babylonia and Assyria
- War Was Made to Pay for Itself Through Pillage
- Covering a Withdrawal
- Astrolabe, Gift Of The Arabs
2006 (1)
September (1)
2003 (54)
November (1)
April (1)
March (52)
- Alchemy Had an Unscientific Method
- Battle Casualties in the Ancient World
- Archer-Pair in Assyrian and Persian Warfare
- Magic Is Not Supernatural
- Persian Spirit, Skill, and Resourcefulness
- In Every Army There is a Mob Waiting to Escape
- No Last-Minute Maneuvers
- Disease, the Wild Card of History
- A More Varied Diet Means a Healthier Population
- Seljuk Fiefs Were Not Hereditary
- Acquiring Coup d'oeil, the General's Discerning Glance
- For Byzantines, Strategy Was All-Important
- A God of the State Not the People
- Ottoman Nobility: Pashas, Begs, and Beglierbegs
- Successors to the Caliphate in Muslim Spain
- Roman Worldview
- Babylonian Divination
- Damascus
- Patronage Was the Traditional Princely Activity
- Few Pitched Battles But Many Sieges
- Origin of the Rank and Grades of General
- Ancient Fortifications Were Impervious
- Ideology Of Monarchy
- The Way of Life
- An All-Around Mounted Warrior
- King's Armiger
- Magic of Metallurgy
- Akkadian Conception of the Supernatural
- Horsemanship: Prerequisite for a Military Career
- Not Superior to Man
- Shamanic Paraphernalia
- Greek View of the Cosmos
- Divination Practices
- Seeing the Gods
- Three-Fold Root of Monarchy
- Rise and Fall of the Temple
- Justice with Common Sense
- Decline of Medieval Iraq
- Birth of the Persian Empire
- Amir Grades of Rank
- Web of Interdependence
- Military Systems
- Soldiers of Greece and Rome
- Parthian Cavalry
- Outpouring from the Steppe
- Iron Age Logistics
- Javelins versus Chariots
- A Vast Encampment
- Elephants in War
- Deception in War
- Stone Age of Command
- Chariot Tactics
2002 (4)
June (1)
February (1)
January (1)
2001 (2)
December (1)
1999 (4)
November (1)
1998 (12)
November (1)
September (2)
1997 (20)
November (20)
- Invictus
- A Warrior's Creed
- Public Versus Private Sorcery
- Magic at the Inbetween Places
- The Combat of the Thirty
- You and Your Enemy
- Fear Was the Fountainhead of Government Control
- Domain of the Philosopher
- The Purpose of War Is a More Perfect Peace
- How Great Generals Win
- Tactical Capabilities of Medieval Weapon Systems
- An Arsenal of Magic Implements
- Machiavelli on Princedoms
- Perilous Journeys into the Mind
- Your Time Has a Limit Set to It
- Monastic Hospitality for Aristocratic Patrons
- Ten Uses for Cavalry
- Magicians as Intellectuals
- Slavery in the East
- Of Its Kind, the Last
