Magic Realm: Day 6

We had a pretty successful day 5 in the Magic Realm.  We collected an additional 27 notoriety -- six from killing Guard 1, twelve from killing Guard 2, and nine from killing Patrol 1.  We also pocketed 10 gold from looting their three bodies.

There are two Patrolmen alive at the Guardhouse, along with a stack of treasures dropped by the defeated Guard leader.

The Black Knight suffered one wound and fatigued three effort asterisks during day 5 combat, so he has 9/12 action chits remaining.  During day 6, our plan is to move back to the Guardhouse and rest.  We record one move and three rest actions.

At the start of the day, we roll for prowling monsters, and roll a 1: dragons.  Again, because we are in the valleys, we are safe from the prowling monsters.

We move to the Guardhouse and rest three times.  That allows us to recover three effort asterisks-worth of fatigue, so we return our MOVE H4** and MOVE M4* chits into our active chit stock.  That leaves us with one wounded FIGHT M5 chit still unavailable to us.

The Black Knight ends his turn, unhidden, at the Guardhouse.  With the other two Patrolmen still there, we roll to see whether the Patrol chooses to battle the Black Knight.  With a reaction roll of 3 the Patrol decide that discretion is the better part of valour, and elect not to battle the Black Knight.  That is just as well for us.  Once we have gathered up much of the treasure lying about, we will sell it to the Patrol and then finish them off, thereby re-acquiring the loot we just sold them.

Magic Realm: Day 5

Onto day 5 of our Magic Realm adventures.  During the first four days, the Black Knight first travelled through the Deep Woods, making note of the site of the Dragon's Lair.  He then made his way through several valleys to the Guardhouse, where he sold his shield to, and dispatched, the leader of the Guards, his hated foes, before running away.  Currently hanging around the Guardhouse is the Patrol, who the Black Knight is indifferent to.

During the first four days, we have collected 6 notoriety points (all for killing the Guard leader) and 11 gold (7 for selling the shield, and another 4 looted from the dead Guard's body).  We selected one fame, three notoriety and 1 gold as our victory conditions.  That actually translates into 10 fame (each fame victory point equals 10 fame), 60 notoriety (each notoriety victory point equals 20 notoriety) and 30 gold (each gold victory point equals 30 gold).  We have a long way to go to fulfil our victory conditions.

We are once again on the outskirts of the Guardhouse, having run away at the end of day 4.  Across the top of the screen is displayed everything that remains at the Guardhouse: two surviving Guards; three Patrol members; a helmet; a breastplate; a broadsword, two axes and a mace; two blue treasure cards; and, my shield.  All of that equipment and treasure was dropped by the now-deceased Guard leader.

Our first order of business is to head back to the Guardhouse, finish off the remaining Guards, and loot that pile of treasure.  For day 5, we will record the same actions as day 4: move to the Guardhouse, hide twice, and rest once, to recover from that fatiguing departure at the end of day 4.

At the start of day 5, we make a prowling monster roll of 4.  Once again, giants and trolls, and the Lancers. 

This monster roll will not affect us, as we remain within the safe confines of the valleys.  We will not encounter the Lancers either, as they appear only at the Chapel and the Campfires.

During the day, the Black Knight uses his first action to move to the Guardhouse.  His first hide attempt is successful, with rolls of 2 and 4.  Therefore the second hide attempt is redundant, and that action is lost.  His last action is a rest, and the Black Knight recovers the fatigue that was suffered at the end of day 4.

At this point, the Black Knight is hidden and fully rested.  There are two Guards and three Patrolmen at the Guardhouse. 

The Black Knight can probably kill three, and perhaps all, of the five remaining denizens.  He would, admittedly, have to be darned lucky to finish off all five, but it is possible.  But, we need the Patrol leader alive for a couple of days, because our plan is to sell him the Guard leader's dropped treasure, and collect the related gold, before we finish him off.  Don't forget ... this is the Black Knight we're talking about.  Treachery is his hallmark.

During the first round of combat, we take the same approach we did when finishing off the Guard leader.  First, from hiding, the Black Knight alerts his mace, using his FIGHT M5 chit.  Then, he surprise attacks Guard 1, using his alerted speed 3 mace and his FIGHT H6 chit.

Even though Guard 1 tries, at the last moment, to duck the Black Knight's attack, the alerted mace's speed of 3 undercuts the Guard's move of 5.  And since the Black Knight overswung his mace for a heavy blow, the Black Knight finishes off Guard 1.

Guard 2 wheels to confront our unexpected attack, while the bemused Patrol watches on the sidelines from the backs of their horses.

As we are within melee range of Guard 2, he is now at a disadvantage.  Normally, the Guard's greatsword, with its' extra reach compared to the Black Knight's stubby mace, would see us impaled before we could close the intervening distance, but that reach advantage is only available during initial contact in combat round 1.  In subsequent rounds,  weapon speed rules the battlefield.

Once again, we want to alert our mace, so we can take advantage of its alerted speed of 3.  While we were hidden, we had the luxury of leisurely alerting our mace.  Now that the Black Knight is no longer hidden, and in the thick of combat, we can only alert our mace if we can alert it faster than our opponent's move speed.  As the Guard's move speed is 5, we need a fight speed of 4 or less.  Fortunately, we have four fight chits that fit the bill.

We have two FIGHT M4* (somewhat fatiguing), and FIGHT H4** and FIGHT M3** (very fatiguing) chits.  We will use the FIGHT M4* chit to alert the mace, and set that chit aside, as it is temporarily unavailable since we used it to alert our weapon.  Alerting the mace will mean another dead Guard, and nary a scratch to the Black Knight, as our attack speed of 3 will land before the Guard has a chance to land a blow of his own.

The Black Knight once again plays his FIGHT H6 chit with the speed 3 alerted mace.  The Guard, meanwhile, tries to strike a quick blow by changing tactics and simultaneously dodging our attack, but to no avail.  His move speed of 6 is less than our attack speed of 3, and his attack speed of 4 is too slow to land a blow before my speed 3 mace crushes in the side of his head.

Our first two rounds of combat have resulted in a pair of dead Guards, no fatigue or wounds suffered by the Black Knight, 8 additional gold, and 18 additional points of notoriety (six notoriety for Guard 1, and twelve notoriety for Guard 2, since each foe after the first, defeated during the same day, is worth their notoriety times the order number in which they were defeated).

The Black Knight has collected a total of 24 notoriety, over one-third of the 60 notoriety required to fulfil his victory conditions.  He has also collected 19 gold.  That is nearly two-thirds of the 30 he needs to meet his gold victory conditions.

I mentioned that at least three of the five denizens can be defeated.  We can dispatch at least one Patrol member, since they are not expecting us to attack them.  The advantage of attacking the Patrol now is that the next opponent defeated with be worth three times his notoriety value, since he will be the third opponent dispatched during the same day.  The patrol are normally worth 3 notoriety.  Thus, one dispatched now will be worth 3 x 3 = 9 notoriety.  We will take the chance that we suffer one or more wounds while tangling with the Patrol, since the 9 notoriety is hard to pass up.

The Patrol is not expecting an attack, so we can alert our mace with our FIGHT M5 chit.  We select Patrol 1 as our target, since he is the easiest of the three to defeat, and we want to keep Patrol HQ (the leader) around for a couple of days so he can buy our loot.

 

 

The Patrol is a different foe from the Guards.  Each of the Patrolmen ride a workhorse, and inflict, at most, medium damage (by comparison, the Guards inflicted heavy and tremendous damage). 

 

Workhorses for Magic Realm denizens work the same as those ridden by the characters: you must eliminate the horse before you can attack the rider. 

 

 

Once again, we use our FIGHT H6 chit along with our speed 3 alerted mace.  The alerted mace is faster than the workhorse's move speed of 6, so undercuts the workhorse's attempt to dodge my attack.  The heavy damage of the fight chit is sufficient to eliminate the workhorse.

 



Having killed one of their workhorses, the three Patrolmen turn to confront the Black Knight.  They block our escape attempt, as the unhorsed Patrolman is too fast for us to outrun. 

That's okay, as we had intended to finish Patrol 1 off anyways.  The Patrolmen are also too fast for the Black Knight to alert his mace.  We'll have to do this the hard way, then.  We play the FIGHT H6 chit with our unalerted mace, and our MOVE H4** chit to try an avoid the Patrol attacks.

Well, we got the worst of that exchange.  By playing our MOVE H4**, we suffer fatigue during this combat round, Patrol 1 avoids our attack by switching tactics, and Patrol 2's attack connects, resulting in a wound to the Black Knight.  Our MOVE M4* chit becomes fatigued, and our FIGHT M5 chit becomes wounded.  We have lost two of our twelve action chits during this combat round.

The only upside in that combat round is that, since our attack missed, our mace is automatically alerted next round, giving us a faster attack. 

During the next round, we once again use our FIGHT H6 chit, now with our alerted, speed 3 mace, and play our MOVE H4** chit to maximize our chances of avoiding the Patrol's attacks.

Combat round 5 went much better for us!  Although Patrol 1 dodges our attack, again, he switches to his own, heavier attack, which also slows his move speed to 4.  Since our attack speed is 3, we undercut his dodge, killing him in the process.

Patrol 1's death adds another 9 notoriety to our score, for a total of 33/60 notoriety.  We also gain another 2 gold, bringing us to 21/30 gold.

We have incurred another point of fatigue, bringing us to 9/12 chits still available to us.  At this point, the Black Knight runs away, incurring another point of fatigue.  The Black Knight escapes as the two horse-mounted Patrol can't catch him.

Magic Realm: Day 4

At the end of day 3, the Black Knight beats a hasty retreat from the Guardhouse, as both the Guard and the Patrol challenge him.  As a result, the Black Knight incurs a single point of fatigue.

On day 4, the Black Knight records one action to move back to the Guardhouse (where the Guards and Patrol are waiting), records two hide actions, and for his last action, records a rest, in order to recover from the fatigue of running away yesterday.

We have recorded two hide actions because there's a chance that a hide attempt will be unsuccessful.  When attempting a hide action (and many other actions) you roll two dice, taking the higher of the two rolls, and consulting the related table to determine the result.  If, for example, a hide roll reveals a 6, your hide action is unsuccessful.  Therefore, we have recorded two hide actions, to improve our chances of hiding.

The monster roll, at the start of the day, is 4: giants and trolls.  As we are staying in the valley, we don't need to worry about prowling monsters.

During the day, we move back to the Guardhouse, and roll a 1 and 3 on our first hide attempt, thus successfully hiding.  The second hide action is lost, as we must pre-record all of our actions at the start of the game day, and then follow the actions in order once our turn begins.

Since the Black Knight is hidden at the end of the day, neither the Guards nor the Patrol challenge him.  Time to take down the leader of the Guards. 

Since the Black Knight is hidden during the initial combat encounter step, he readies his medium mace by alerting it.  He uses his FIGHT M5 chit to do so, thereby temporarily removing that chit from his active action pool.

Because we are attacking while hidden, the Black Knight gets a free attack on the leader of the Guard.  Thus we don't need to play a move chit to avoid the Guard's attack during this first round of combat, only another fight chit to strike our blow (you must always play a fight chit along with whatever weapon you employ).  The Black Knight uses his FIGHT H6 chit in combination with his medium mace.  Since the mace is already alerted, it has an automatic attack speed of 3, which is faster than the attack time of 6 on his fight chit (smaller attack numbers are faster that larger numbers, and weapon speeds over-ride fight chit speeds).

We compare the Black Knight's mace speed of 3 to the Guard's move speed of 5.  Since the mace is faster than the Guard's move, we undercut the Guard, and inflict an automatic hit.  And since we played a heavy fight chit, which is a more powerful swing than the mace's normal damage, we inflict a heavy wound, one harm level higher than what the mace usually does. 

Splat!  The Guard dies, as we inflicted, as he is vulnerable to, heavy damage.  

As a result of dispatching the leader of the Guard, we gain 6 notoriety, and 4 more gold.  At this point, It's tempting to try dispatching the other two Guards, but there's a risk that one of them will get a lucky swing during the second round, killing me or destroying my armor, neither of which is palatable.  Dying on day 1 is not fatal to winning the game, but dying on day 4 might put victory out of reach.  Therefore, at the start of combat round two, we once again use the Black Knight's MOVE H4** chit to run away, suffering a single point of fatigue while fleeing down the road. 

The Black Knight can successfully flee in this circumstance because the Guard's move speed is 5, while his speed, while exhausting, is 4.

Magic Realm: Day 3

Day 3 of our Magic Realm adventures finds us arriving at the Guardhouse.  Three of our four actions are used for moving to the Guardhouse; the fourth action is spend trading with the Guards.  The Black Knight uses a trade action to sell his shield to the Guard for a whopping 7 gold.  We don't need the shield to defeat the Guard, as the Black Knight's full suit of armor is protection enough.  Every little bit of gold helps, since gold was included in our victory conditions.  And besides, we're just going to kill the Guards and take the shield back anyways!

As you can see, there are three Guards at the Guardhouse.  Since we didn't hide this turn, the Guards are likely to challenge us to a fight ... three against one (see why the Black Knight hates them so?). 

The prowling monster roll is once more 3, which means goblins and the Octopus are active, and the Patrol will show up at the end of the day.  The Black Knight has no particular beef with the Patrol, but they're likely to fall beneath his shattering mace blows at some point as well.  But for now we've got Guards to bury, so we're biding time before finishing off the Patrol.

 

And here they come, both the Guards and the Patrol appear at the end of the day, looking for trouble.

 

 

As there are too many opponents, the Black Knight beats a hasty retreat down the road, by playing his H4** move chit to run away during the combat encounter stage.  That will cost him one single-star chit of fatigue, but that's preferable  to being chopped to bits by the Guards and Patrol.

Magic Realm: Day 2

During day two of our Magic Realm adventures, we once again use all four actions to move, past the Dragon's Lair, through the Dark Valley, and into Evil Valley.  Despite their fearsome names, the valleys are actually quite safe, particularly if you end your day outside of the occupied dwellings.

At the start of day 2, we roll a prowling monster roll of 3.  That means goblins and the Octopus are prowling today.  Since there are no wandering monsters in the valleys, my second day in the Magic Realm ends uneventfully.

Magic Realm: Day 1

A Magic Realm game lasts 28 game days.  In order to win, a player must, by the end of those 28 days, achieve his pre-selected victory conditions.  At the start of the game, each player assigns 5 points to their victory conditions.  In the case of my character, the Black Knight, I have assigned one point to Fame, three points to Notoriety, and one point to Gold.

The Black Knight starts the game at the Inn, the haunt of the unpredictable Rogues.  There are seven Rogues, too many for the Black Knight to vanquish single-handed.  Therefore, I use my four actions to travel into the Deep Woods (every Magic Realm character gets two actions per day, plus another two actions if the character stays in the outdoors for the entire day, for a total of four actions).

Normally, I'd have used one of my four actions to hide.  However, this is the first day of the game, so I take the chance that I'd encounter a monster unhidden (that's usually a bad thing).  If I perish on day 1, I can just re-spawn on day 2, losing only one day of adventuring.  At the start of the day, I roll to see which monsters are active: I rolled a 6, so the bats are active.  At the end of my four actions, the monster and treasure indicators are turned over, and we discover that the Deep Woods are the home to the Lair of the Tremendous Dragon as well as a Heavy Spider.  Neither monster appears this turn (I have placed them on the board so you can see which indicators they relate to) since only bats are active.

The Heavy Spider is an easily dispatched opponent of the Black Knight, and is worth a modest amount of Fame and Notoriety.  However, the Tremendous Dragon will make mincemeat of the Black Knight.  The Dragon's Lair contains 7 treasures, which is a nice-sized treasure site, but we're going to forego the opportunity for now, as we have Guards to defeat.

Player Agency: Magic Realm

Avalon Hill's Magic Realm is a clever melding of board game and roleplaying game.

While there is, admittedly, a game-board, which the players construct before beginning play, the game mechanics encourage both in-character player interaction and diplomacy, and provide incentives to hew close to your character's default role. Your experiences while adventuring within the Magic Realm will often reinforce your default role, but can occasionally provide you with novel new paths to victory.

The measurement of victory in Magic Realm is determined by the players. After selecting one of 16 Magic Realm characters, each player secretly records their individual victory conditions. If, by the end of the game, any or all have achieved their victory conditions, those that do so, win the game.

Here is a Magic Realm game I just recently started. In the centre of the game board is my character, the Black Knight, relaxing at the Inn, whilst keeping a watchful eye on the Rogues carousing there.  Before him are a plethora of options for adventure.

In this game, immediately to the north of the Inn are the Ledges.  The Ledges, along with the Cliff to the west and the Deep Woods to the south, are generally teaming with monsters and treasure.  Further to the south, following a somewhat circuitous route through the Maple Woods, are the Ruins, one of the Black Knight's favorite stomping grounds, as they are well-known for a pair of Trolls, easily dispatched by the Black Knight.  To the northwest lies the High Pass: it's underground passage can be accessed though the Cliff; or, if the mountain pass is preferred, the Deep Woods and Evil Valley is our alternate route.  We can also follow that same route to visit the Borderland, to the east, however the Borderland is generally worth shunning, as it is riddled with underground passages from which hordes of deadly goblins emerge.

All of these adventure locations are immediately available to the Black Knight.  And the player might be tempted to invoke their agency and visit one or more of them.  However, the Black Knight, while heavily armored and wielding his mace to deadly effect, is better off first visiting the Guards.  It will take three days to travel to the Guardhouse, but it is worth it, as the Guards are the Black Knight's sworn enemies, and he is notoriously effective at dispatching them, thereby accessing the treasure and weapons they possess.  Several of the weapons possessed by the Guards, such as the axes and broadswords, make the Black Knight an even more formidable foe.

The Chapel to the southeast is another tempting destination.  The Knightly Order residing there possesses the Black Knight's favorite weapon, the Morningstar.  However, the Order rarely parts with it for less than two or three times its' worth.  The Black Knight needs to find some gold or treasure first, before haggling (or tangling) with the Order.

My plan for the first couple of game days: travel as quickly as possible to the Guardhouse, dispatch the Guards there, and start amassing my fortune from the loot they leave behind.  My victory conditions: a little bit of Fame (from the opportunistic killing of smaller monsters), a lot of Notoriety (from slaughtering the Guards and any other Magic Realm denizens that dare cross me), and a little bit of Gold.

Appendix N: June 2013

Once again, we attended the CBC and Calgary Herald charity book sales and found several titles to add to my Appendix N collection.

 

 

Those book finds included: Lilith and Phantastes by George MacDonald; the collected short stories of Edgar Allan Poe; The Colour Of Magic by Terry Pratchett: The Lost Valley of Iskander, Conan of Aquilonia, Conan the Warrior and Tigers of the Sea by Robert E Howard; The Ship of Ishtar and Seven Footprints to Satan by A. Merritt; Star of Danger, The Planet Savers, The Sword of Aldones and Sword and Sorceress VII by Marion Bradley; The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny; The Anubis Gates and On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers; The Undying Wizard by Andrew Offutt; Lost On Venus by Edgar Rice Burroughs; New Worlds For Old by Lin Carter; Eye In The Sky by Phillip K. Dick; A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain; The Face In The Frost by John Bellairs; At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft; The Return of She Ayesha by H. Rider Haggard; The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein; Ogre Ogre by Piers Anthony; and The Citadel of the Autarch by Gene Wolfe.

Abbey, Lynn:

Adams, Richard: Watership Down; Shardik

Alexander, Lloyd: The Book of Three 1; The Black Cauldron 2; The Castle of Llyr 3; Taran Wanderer 4; The High King 5

Anderson, Poul: Ensign Flandry; Flandry Of Terra; Agent of the Terran Empire; The Long Night; Three Hearts and Three Lions; The Broken Sword; The High Crusade; A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows; The Last Viking 1

Anthony, Piers: A Spell for Chameleon; Split Infinity; On A Pale Horse; Ogre, Ogre

Ariosto, Ludovico: Orlando Furioso

Asprin, Robert A.: Thieves World I; Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn II; Shadows of Sanctuary III; Storm Season IV; The Face of Chaos V; Another Fine Myth

Barker, M.A.R.: The Man Of Gold; Flamesong

Baum, L. Frank: The Wizard Of Oz, Emerald City Of Oz, Land of Oz

Beagle, Peter S.: The Last Unicorn; A Fine And Private Place

Bellairs, John: The Face In The Frost

Bellamy, Francis R : Atta

Blackwood, Algernon: 

Bloodstone, John: Thundar Man Of Two Worlds

Bloch, Robert: Strange Eons

Bok, Hannes: The Sorcerers Ship

Brackett, Leigh: Eric John Stark, Outlaw Of Mars; The Best Of Leigh Brackett; The Sword Of Rhiannon; The Ginger Star 1; The Hounds Of Skaith 2; Reavers of Skaith 3

Bradley, Marion Z: Warrior Women; Sword and Sorceress Anthology; Sword And Sorceress VII; The Planet Savers 1958; The Sword Of Aldones 1962; The Boody Sun 1964; Star Of Danger 1965; The Winds Of Darkover 1970; The Forbidden Tower 1977; Stormqueen! 1978; Seven From The Stars;

Brooks, Terry: The Sword of Shannara

Brown, Fredric: The Best Of Fredric Brown

Brunner, John: Secret Agent Of Terra;

Burroughs, Edgar R.: Pellucidar; Tanar of Pellucidar; A Princess Of Mars 1; The Gods Of Mars 2; Warlord Of Mars 3; Thuvia, Maid Of Mars 4; Chessmen of Mars 5; The Mastermind of Mars 6; A Fighting Man of Mars 7; The Moon Maid; Out of Time’s Abyss; Jungle Girl, Land of Hidden Men; Pirates Of Venus; Lost On Venus; Carson Of Venus; Escape On Venus;  Tarzan Of The Apes 1; The Return Of Tarzan 2; The Beasts of Tarzan 3; The Son Of Tarzan 4; Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar 5; Tarzan and the Lost Empire 10; At The Earth's Core

Cabell, James Branch: Figures Of Earth; Domnei; Cream Of The Jest; The Silver Stallion; Jurgen, A Comedy Of Justice; Something About Eve;

Campbell, J Ramsey: Demons by Daylight

Carter, Lin: Thongor and the Dragon City; Thongor and the Wizards of Lemuria; Thongor Fights the Pirates of Tarakus; Thongor and the End of Time; Zanathon; Tower at the Edge of Time; The Black Star; Beyond The Gates Of Dream; Down To A Sunless Sea; Journey to the Underground World; Warrior of World’s End; Flashing Swords 1; Flashing Swords 2; Flashing Swords 3; Flashing Swords 4; Flashing Swords 5; Dragons, Elves and Heroes; Golden Cities, Far; The Spawn of Cthuhlu; Discoveries In Fantasy; New Worlds For Old; The Young Magicians; Lost Worlds;

Cervantes, Miguel: Don Quixote

Chalker, Jack L.: Midnight at the Well of Souls 1; Exiles at the Well of Souls 2; Quest For the Well Of Souls 3; The Return of Nathan Brazil 4, Twilight at the Well of Souls 5

Chandler, A. Bertram: The Road To The Rim; The Hard Way; The Wild Ones; The Inheritors; The Gateway To Never; Star Courier; To Keep The Ship; Matilda's Stepchildren; The Rim Of Space;

Chant, Joy: Red Moon And Black Mountain

Cherryh, C.J.:

Cook, Glen: The Black Company

Daley, Brian: Han Solo At Star’s End; Han Solo’s Revenge; Han Solo And The Lost Legacy

Davidson, Avram: The Phoenix And The Mirror; The Island Under the Earth

deCamp, L. Sprague:  The Tritonian Ring; The Complete Compleat Enchanter; The Compleat Enchanter; Lovecraft, A Biography; Swords And Sorcery; Spell of Seven; The Fantastic Swordsmen;  Warlocks and Warriors; The Fallible Fiend; Conan The Barbarian; Conan And The Spider God; Lest Darkness Fall; The Carnelian Cube; The Emperors Fan; The Reluctant King; The Unbeheaded King; The Goblin Tower; The Clocks Of Iraz; The Queen Of Zamba

Derleth, August: The Trail of Cthuhlu

Dick, Phillip K: Eye In The Sky

Dickson, Gordon R.: Dorsai!; The Dragon and the George

Donaldson, Stephen: Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever

Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan: The Lost World

Dumas, Alexandre: The Three Musketeers

Dunsany, Lord: The King Of Elfland’s Daughter; Over the Hills and Far Away; The Charwoman's Shadow

Eco, Umberto: The Name Of The Rose

Eddings, David: Pawn of Prophecy, Queen Of Sorcery, Magician’s Gambit, Castle of Wizardry, Enchanter’s Endgame

Eddison, E. R.: The Worm Ouroboros; Mistress of Mistresses; A Fish Dinner In Memison

Ende, Michael: The Neverending Story

Farmer, Philip Jose: The Maker Of Universes 1; The Gates Of Creation 2; A Private Cosmos 3; Hadon Of Ancient Opar

Fiest, Raymond: Magician

Finney, Charles: The Unholy City; The Circus of Dr. Lao

Foster, Alan Dean: Nor Crystal Tears, Splinter of the Minds Eye; The End of the Matter; The Tar-Aiym Krang; Bloodhype; Orphan Star; For Love Of Mother-Not; The Time Of The Transference

Fox, Gardner: Kothar Barbarian Swordsman; Kothar and the Conjurer's Curse; Kothar and the Wizard Slayer; Kothar and the Magic Sword; Kothar And The Demon Queen; Kyrik Warlock Warrior; Kyrik Fights The Demon World; Kyrik and the Lost Queen; Kyrik and the Wizards Sword; Warrior Of Llarn

Funke, Cornelia: Inkheart

Gardner, Craig Shaw: A Malady Of Magicks

Garner, Alan: Elidor; The Moon Of Gomrath; The Weirdstone of Brisingamen

Gemmell, David: Legend

Goldman, William: The Princess Bride

Glut, Donald F: The Empire Strikes Back

Gygax, Gary: City Of Hawks; The Samarkand Solution; The Anubis Murders; Infernal Sorceress; Death In Delhi; City Of Hawks

Haggard, H. Rider: King Solomon's Mines; The People Of The Mist; The World's Desire; When The World Shook; She And Allan;  She; The Return Of She Ayesha

Hambly, Barbara: The Time of the Dark; The Walls Of Air, The Armies of Daylight; The Ladies of Mandrigyn, Dragonsbane

Harrison, Harry: The Adventures Of The Stainless Street Rat; The Stainless Steel Rat

Heinlein, Robert: Glory Road; The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress

Hickman, Tracy:

Hodgson, W.H.: The House On The Borderland

Holmes, John Eric: Mahars of Pellucidar

Howard, Robert E.: Cthulhu; Sword Woman; Almuric; The People Of The Black Circle; Red Nails; Shadow Kingdoms; People Of The Dark; Beyond The Black River; The Hour Of The Dragon; Black Hounds Of Death; Conan 1; Conan Of Cimmeria 2; Conan the Freebooter 3; Conan the Wanderer 4; Conan the Adventurer 5; Conan the Buccaneer 6; Conan The Warrior 7; Conan The Usurper 8; Conan The Conqueror 9; Conan The Avenger 10; Conan Of Aquilonia 11; Conan of The Isles 12; Solomon Kane, The Hills Of The Dead; Skull-Face; Black Canaan; Swords Of Shahrazar; Marchers Of Valhalla, The Book Of Robert E. Howard; The Second Book Of Robert E. Howard; Tigers Of The Sea; Bran Mak Morn; Son Of The White Wolf; The Last Ride; The Lost Valley Of Iskander; Black Vulmea's Vengeance; The Vultures Of Whapeton

Hyne, C J Cutliffe: The Lost Continent

Jakes, John: The Last Magicians; Brak The Barbarian; Mark of Demons; The Sorceress; The Fortunes Of Brak

Jackson, Steve: Fighting Fantasy; The Warlock of Firetop Mountain 1; The Citadel of Chaos 2; The Forest Of Doom 3; Deathtrap Dungeon 6; Curse Of The Mummy 27; Armies Of Death 36

Kline, Otis Adelbert: Swordsman Of Mars, Outlaw Of Mars, Planet of Peril, Port of Peril, Prince of Peril

Kuttner, Henry: Fury; The Mask Of Circe; Elak Of Atlantis, The Dark World, Robots Have No Tails

Kurtz, Katherine: Deryni Rising; Deryni Checkmate; High Deryni

Lanier, Sterling: Hiero’s Journey; The Unforsaken Hiero

L’Engle, Madeleine: A Wrinkle In Time

Le Guin, Ursula: A Wizard Of Earthsea; The Left Hand Of Darkness; Tehanu; The Farthest Shore

Lee, Tanith: The Book Of The Damned I; The Book Of The Beast II; The Storm Lord, The Birthgrave, The Dragon Hoard, Night’s Master, Death’s Master

Leiber, Fritz: Swords and Deviltry 1; Swords Against Death 2; Swords In The Mist 3; Swords And Wizardry 4; The Swords of Lankhmar 5; Swords and Ice Magic 6; The Knight and Knave of Swords; Heroes And Horrors

Lewis, C.S.: The Voyage Of The Dawntreader; The Silver Chair

Lindsay, David: A Voyage To Arcturus

Livingston, Ian: The Forest Of Doom3, Deathtrap Dungeon 3; Armies Of Death 36; Curse Of The Mummy 27;

Lovecraft, H.P.: The Doom That Came To Sarnath; The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath; The Shadow Over Innsmouth; At The Mountains Of Madness; The Lurker At The Threshold; The Tomb; The Watchers Out Of Time; At the Mountains of Madness Omnibus 1; Waking Up Screaming; The Dunwich Horror

Lumley, Brian: The Burrowers Beneath; The Transition Of Titus Crow; Hero Of Dreams

MacDonald, George:  Lilith; Phantastes

Martin, George R.R.: Dying Of The Light; A Song Of Ice And Fire

Matheson, Richard: I Am Legend

McCaffery, Anne: The Ship Who Sang; Dinosaur Planet; Dragonflight 1

Merritt, A.: The Ship Of Ishtar; The Seven Footprints Of Satan; The Moon Pool; The Face In The Abyss; Dwellers In the Mirage; Creep Shadow Creep

Miller, Walter: A Canticle For Leibowitz

Moorcock, Michael: Legends From The End Of Time; The Jewel In The Skull; The Mad God’s Amulet; The Sleeping Sorceress; The Runestaff; The Lord of the Spiders; The Masters of the Pit; The City of the Beast; The Warlord of the Air; Stealer Of Souls; Stormbringer; Elric of Melnibone; Elric At The End Of Time; The Vanishing Tower; The King Of Swords 3; Sword of the Dawn; The Sailor On The Seas Of Fate; The Sword Of The Dawn

Moore, C.L.: Northwest Smith; Jirel Of Joiry

Morris, Janet: High Couch of Silistra

Morris, William: The Well At Worlds End I; The Well At Worlds End II; The Wood Beyond the World; The Water of the Wondrous Isles

Mundy, Talbot: Tros Of Samothrace; Avenging Liafail 2; Liafail3; The Praetor's Dungeon 3; The Purple Pirate 6

Niven, Larry: The Man-Kzin Wars; A World Out Of Time; A Gift From Earth; Tales of Known Space; Neutron Star; The Magic May Return; The Magic Goes Away; The Flight of the Horse

Norman, John: Tarnsman Of Gor 1; Outlaw Of Gor 2; Priest-Kings Of Gor 3; Nomads Of Gor 4; Assassin Of Gor 5; Raiders Of Gor 6; Captive Of Gor 7; Hunters Of Gor 8; Marauders Of Gor 9, Tribesmen Of Gor 10, Slave Girl of Gor 11; Time Slave

Norton, Andre: Quag Keep; Exiles of the Stars; Warlock of Witch World; High Sorcery; Witch World; Sargasso Of Space; Lord Of Thunder

Nowlan, Philip F.: Armageddon 2419 A.D.

Offutt, Andrew J.: Demon In The Mirror; Eyes Of Sarsis; Web Of The Spider; Conan, The Sword of Skelos; Conan The Mercenary; Swords Against Darkness I; Swords Against Darkness II; Swords Against Darkness III; Swords Against Darkness IV; Swords Against Darkness V; The Iron Lords 1; Shadows Out Of Hell 2; The Lady Of The Snowmist 3; The Undying Wizard; Cormac Mac Art;

Piper, H. Beam: Space Viking

Poe, Edgar Allan:  Collected Stories

Powers, Tim:  On Stranger Tides; The Anubis Gates

Pratchett, Terry: The Colour Of Magic; The Light Fantastic, Equal Rites, Mort

Pratt, Fletcher: Land Of Unreason; The Blue Star; The Well of the Unicorn; The Carnelian Cube

Saberhagen, Fred: The First Book Of Swords; Second Book Of Swords; Third Book Of Swords; Empire Of The East

Salmonson, Jessica: Amazons!

Schmitz, James: The Witches of Karres; The Demon Breed

Shackleford, Jack D.: Tanith

Shea, Michael: Color Out Of Time; A Quest For Simbilis; Nifft The Lean; The Incompleat Nifft; The Mines of Behemoth; The A`Rak

Sims, John:

Sirota, Mike: Master Of Boranga

Smith, Clark Ashton: Lost Worlds Volume 1; Lost Worlds Volume 2; Out Of Space And Time 1; Out Of Space And Time 2; The Abominations of Yondo; Genius Loci; Poseidonis; Zothique; Hyperborea; Xiccarph; Tales Of Science And Sorcery; Other Dimensions 1; Other Dimensions 2

Smith, David: Red Sonja 1; Red Sonja 3, When Hell Laughs;

Smith, L. Neil: Lando Calrissian and the Midharp of Sharu; Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of Thonboka; Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Osean

Smith, E.E. ‘Doc’: Triplanetary

Springer, Nancy: The White Hart; The Silver Sun

St. Clair, Margaret: The Shadow People; Sign of the Labrys

Stasheff, Christopher: The Warlock Wandering; The Warlock Rock; A Warlock's Blade; Warlock And Son; The Warlock Is Missing; Her Majesty's Wizard; King Kobold

Stewart, Mary: The Crystal Cave; The Hollow Hills; The Last Enchantment

Swann, Thomas: Green Phoenix; The Goat Without Horns; The Forest Of Forever; Day Of The Minotaur; Cry Silver Bells; Moondust; The Gods Abide

Tierney, Richard: Red Sonja 1; Red Sonja 3, When Hell Laughs;

Tolkien, J.R.R.: The Hobbit; The Lord Of The Rings

Twain, Mark:  A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Tubb, E.C.: The Winds Of Gath 1; Derai 2; Toyman 3; Kalin 4; Jester Of Scar 5; Lallia 6; Technos 7; Veruchia 8; Mayenne 9; Jondelle 10; Zenya 11; Eloise 12;

Van Arnam, Dave: Star Barbarian

Van Vogt, A.E.: The Voyage Of The Space Beagle; Quest For The Future

Vance, Jack: The Languages Of The Pao; The Dragon Masters; The Best of Jack Vance; The Dying Earth; The Eyes of the Overworld; Cugel’s Saga; Rhialto The Marvelous; Trullion, Alastor 2262; Wyst, Alastor 1716; Marune, Alastor 933; The Faceless Man 1; The Brave Free Men 2; The Astura 3; Lyonesse 1; The Green Pearl 2; Madouc 3; The Face 4; The Blue World; Galactic Effectuator; Big Planet; City Of The Chasch 1; Servants of the Wanek 2; The Dirdir 3; The Pnume 4; Suldrun's Garden; The Last Castle; The Palace of Love; The Book of Dreams

Verne, Jules: The Mysterious Island; A Journey To The Centre Of The Earth;

Wagner, Karl E: Bloodstone, Death Angel’s Shadow, Dark Crusade

Weinbaum, Stanley; The Black Flame; A Martian Odyssey

Wellman, Manly Wade: The Old Gods Waken; The Hanging Stones; The Lost And The Lurking; After Dark; Silver John; Who Fears The Devil?

White, Theodore: The Once and Future King

Williams, Robert M.: Return of Jongor

Williamson, Jack: The Trial Of Terra; The Legion Of Space

Wolfe, Gene: The Shadow of the Torturer 1; The Citadel Of The Autarch 4

Zelazny, Roger: Nine Princes In Amber; The Guns of Avalon; Sign of the Unicorn; The Hand of Oberon; The Courts of Chaos; Jack Of Shadows; Dilvish, The Damned; The Changing Land; Isle of the Dead; Trumps of Doom; Blood Of Amber; Sign Of Chaos; Knight Of Shadows; Prince of Chaos, The Chronicles Of Amber 1

Flooding In Calgary

As you may have heard, we had a flood in downtown Calgary that resulted in 75,000 (out of a city of 1 million) people being displaced from their homes.  As I live at the second highest point in Calgary, we were not affected.  Here are just a few photos of the devastation.

That crescent-shaped island-looking bit in front of downtown Calgary is Prince's Island Park.  Or it used to be, before it was flooded.

One of my favorite Chinese restaurants, now partially submerged.

Older, historic part of Calgary.

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Rideau/Roxboro, one of the ritzier neighborhoods in Calgary.  Average family income: $150,000.

Someone trying to save his cat.

Completely submerged truck.

Petty Gods Resource Book

How I'd love to see Petty Gods selling on the shelves of my friendly local gaming store.