| Gary Gygax's D20 | |
|---|---|
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Origin |
Gary Gygax |
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Type |
20-Sided Die |
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Effects |
Lets user quantify a person’s innate characteristic, skillset proficiency or event likelihood. |
|
Downsides |
Desire for vast, sprawling quests with a tendency to become sidetracked |
|
Activation |
Rolling and thinking of a valueless quality |
|
Collected by |
Warehouse 13 |
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Section |
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Date of Collection |
June 1, 2004 |
| [Source] | |
Origin[]
Ernest Gary Gygax (July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) with Dave Arneson.
In the 1960s, Gygax created an organization of wargaming clubs and founded the Gen Con tabletop game convention. In 1971, he co-developed Chainmail, a miniatures wargame based on medieval warfare with Jeff Perren. He co-founded the company TSR (originally Tactical Studies Rules) with childhood friend Don Kaye in 1973. The next year, TSR published D&D, created by Gygax and Arneson the year before. In 1976, he founded The Dragon, a magazine based around the new game. In 1977, he began developing a more comprehensive version of the game called Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. He designed numerous manuals for the game system, as well as several pre-packaged adventures called "modules" that gave a person running a D&D game (the "Dungeon Master") a rough script and ideas.
D&D departs from traditional wargaming by allowing each player to create their own character to play instead of a military formation. These characters embark upon adventures within a fantasy setting. A Dungeon Master (DM) serves as referee and storyteller for the game, while maintaining the setting in which the adventures occur, and playing the role of the inhabitants of the game world, known as non-player characters (NPCs). The characters form a party and they interact with the setting's inhabitants and each other. Together they solve problems, engage in battles, explore, and gather treasure and knowledge. In the process, player characters earn experience points (XP) to level up, and become increasingly powerful over a series of separate gaming sessions. Players choose a class when they create their character, which gives them special perks and abilities every few levels.
The original Dungeons & Dragons boxed set was the first published role-playing game, a fantasy game system modeled on medieval Europe. This set introduced elements that became standard in later editions, including abilities (such as strength, intelligence, and dexterity); character classes (fighting-man, magic-user, cleric) and character levels; races (human, dwarf, elf, halfling); armor class; monsters and treasure; underground dungeons consisting of halls, rooms, and doors protected by tricks and traps; and magic items, such as intelligent swords.
Effects[]
Changes facets not normally quantified with a status instead of a numerical value, such as low or high observational awareness versus 20% of maximum strength. Common factors to change are attributes of one’s self such as intellect, suspicion, sneakiness, speed, health, or other statuses frequently used to make characters in RPGs.
Rolling a number can lock in the effect for an indeterminate amount of time, usually for as long as the wielder or others are aware of the change. Everyone forgetting or failing to notice the boosts will immediately reduce it. Only one attribute can be changed at a time, although they have up to 20 rolls for each side of the die; every extra turn cancels the initial changes.
Each roll can also be used to alter the likelihood of an upcoming event to happen, such as finding necessary safety or succeeding against unfavorable odds. A twenty guarantees it will occur, while zero makes it impossible (asides from other probability and logical artifacts). Using for this method voids it from directly changing the status of people for the next several rolls, until they finish their current overarching task.
Desires for long, sprawling journeys overwhelm the senses of adventure and curiosity. One will take the most lateral, out-of-the-way measures to reach their goal. Becoming lost in tangents unrelated to the original plan are standard. Only by forsaking the die entirely and relinquishing the power will they be snapped directly back to their mission, relying upon natural forces only.