Today I am going to talk briefly about a contest that ran back in 1996. Before they were bought by WotC TSR ran a trivia challenge that allowed gamers to answer a list of questions and win prized including trips to the Spanish GenCon held in Barcelona.
The challenge was called Triviathlon. It consisted of a poster that contained 100 questions. The poster was available through Walden Books and was also included in issue #227 of Dragon Magazine. The questions were rather random and involved a lot of research or lack of any real life. I am not sure if the prizes were ever awarded as TSR was purchased a few months later in April of 1997.
In issue #237, the issue that returned Dragon magazine to publication, answers to the first 25 questions were provided...along with the question. These ran for three more issues. They are in issues #238, #239, and #241.
The idea behind this must have sounded good but the actual execution was probably flawed by the changes and the situation that existed for TSR at the time. The estimate is that were better than 400,000 of these printed so it will never be a super rare item but the number that still exist is probably much, much lower as they were either used or discarded.
If you happen to see one on eBay and it is not going for much it might be worth picking up. The fact that the answers are now published make it more palatable as you can see how you did. It is a neat little item to have but I am not sure I would have ever gone out of my way to find it if I didn't already have it.
Spell:
Failure
Level: Second
Range: 6"
Duration: Special
Ares of Effect: Special
Components: V,S
Casting Time: 1 Segment
Saving Throw: None
When this spell is cast the magic user is granted the ability to cause a limited number of actions to end in failure. The number of actions that will be affected will be a function of the casters level. How the action fails will be dependent on the action and how creative the DM wishes to be. The caster has no ability to determine how the action fails.
The caster will be able to cause one action to fail. They will also be able to cause on additional action for every three levels of experience they posses. The caster can hold these for a period of time equal to their intelligence in turns. The effect is not limited to an individual. Once the spell is cast the magic user can spread around the instances of failure among any individuals they have line of sight on. They will need to be within 6" (60') of the caster though.
Disclaimer: The spells that you will see, for how ever long the write ups last, were all written up or conceived of back in the 80's so the terminology may not appropriate for anything other than 1e and depending on how well I did back then it may be slightly off for that as well. If there is any duplication of spells that exist now it is most likely I wrote mine first :) Please feel free to comment on them but try not to be too hard on me. If anyone wishes to use these in anything they print please let me know in advance and all I ask is proper credit.
"Go to the sign of Marvel's Axe, a dubious inn on the edge of the Thieves Quarter, in the City of Greyhawk, and look to your own wrist. If you perceive a bracelet and dangling dice, watch for the next throw in the war between Law and Chaos and be prepared to follow the compelling geas." -Signal
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2 comments:
Three words: Atari SwordQuest series
There was a bit of discombobulation during the TSR/WotC change.
Not sure what happened at the "end" of this contest. Does anyone?
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