The Trouble with Mylvin Wimbly

Dungeon #5 (May/June, 1987) contains a six-page Basic D&D wilderness mini-scenario, written by Andrew McCray.

Illustration by Roger Raupp (initials on spell book), from Dungeon #5 (May/Jun 1987)

Intended as a one-session interlude for a party of 6-8 characters of 1st to 3rd levels, the action takes place in the middle of a large forest at night.

I ran this adventure for my son and his friends, back in 2015, and wrote up a brief summary of our session (linked, here).

About the Author:

Andrew McCray was introduced to the D&D game by his dad, the DM of Andrew's group for three years.  When his father resigned as gamemaster, the group selected Andrew as his successor.  Currently a freshman planning to major in psychology at Millsaps College in Jacksonville, Mississippi, Andrew hopes that the publication of Mylvin Wimbly breaks the streak of bad luck he has had in getting his work published.

Dungeon #5 (May/June, 1987)

Mylvin Wimbly:

This fully-sketched out NPC could be used in other adventures, complete with a backstory drawn from this adventure.

Treasure Map:

The treasure map of Lazambar the Magician indicates "some kind of treasure cache buried nearby.  The DM may decide if the cache actually exists and what treasure it holds."

The Keep at Koralgesh

"The Keep at Koralgesh" is a 20-page Basic D&D adventure by Robert B. Giacomozzi and Jonathan H. Simmons, published in Dungeon #2 (November/December, 1986).

Cover illustration used for Dungeon #2 (Nov/Dec, 1986), depicting the fall of Koralgesh, also used as the cover illustration for DA4 "The Duchy of Ten" (1987)

The scenario features a four level dungeon, suitable for a party of beginning PCs, beneath the keep and ruined seaport of Koralgesh.

This is another Basic D&D adventure that I ran for my son and his friends, years ago.  I wrote a review on Dragonsfoot, back in 2017 (linked, here).

About the Authors:

Robert Giacomozzi and Jonathan Simmons are teachers for talented and gifted children in Killeen, Texas (their students introduced them to fantasy gaming).  Both of them enjoy a variety of fishing and hunting sports, both read SF and fantasy stories, and both collect miniature figures.  Robert is married and has two kids, two dogs, and two pythons; Jonathan has only one dog aptly named Goblin.

Dungeon #2 (November/December, 1986)

Location:

A possible location on the west coast of Brun was discussed in this thread on the Piazza, back in 2009.  Unfortunately, this is quite far out of the way.

An alternate location in the Kingdom of Ierendi was discussed, here.

Replica maps of Ierendi from Gaz 4 "The Kingdom of Ierendi" (top) and X1 "The Isle of Dread" (bottom) from the Atlas of Mystara (here and here), with Koralgesh in the location of Port Siers 

The authors appear to have been inspired by the fate of Pompeii in envisioning Koralgesh, which suggests a particular location on Ierendi island:.

...Ierendi's people live in the shadow of our great fire mountains.  From time to time these old and generous friends turn violent and cruel, spouting molten rock and poisonous gases upon the people of Ierendi.  Rivers of fire flow across the once-lush-and-green land, leaving nothing but a blackened wasteland of cinder and ash.  A tragic example: in 786 the entire population of Port Siers - over 1, 000 people - was killed in less than an hour by a cloud of burning ash that descended Mount Haumea and washed over the sleeping town like the Black Legions of Death.

GAZ 4 "The Kingdom of Ierendi" (1987) by Anne Gray McCready

New Monsters:

The tyrannabys, illustration by Mark Nelson.

Two original creatures, the Lovecraftian tyrannabys (a slimy, tentacled, aquatic creature), and the enigmatic epadrazzil (a conjured guardian from a 2-dimensional plane), are described.

B9: Castle Caldwell and Beyond

B9 "Castle Caldwell and Beyond" (1985) by Harry Nuckols contains five loosely-connected mini-adventures, designed to bring PCs from 1st to 3rd level.

Module B9 "Castle Caldwell and Beyond" (1985) by Harry Nuckols.  Cover illustration by Clyde Caldwell, from this painting.

I wrote a review of this module (linked, here) after running the adventures for my son and his friends, back when they were in grade school, (you can read our campaign journal, here).

Design Origins:

Years earlier, I'd corresponded with artist Clyde Caldwell, regarding the name:

"Castle Caldwell and Beyond" was indeed named after me.  The game designers who produced the module were also going to name a character "Clyde Caldwell"...but the TSR legal dept. wouldn't allow it.

Clyde Caldwell, 2010

Editor Michael Dobson explains the module's origins:

Unlike most modules, this wasn’t done by in-house designers or people in our usual freelance network, but sent in unsolicited.  Bruce Heard was our product acquisitions guy, so he would most likely know more about the author.  We didn’t have a lot of Basic D&D product coming in, so it was a welcome addition to the line.  I liked the fact that it consisted of very short adventures, and felt it would work well for someone’s first campaign.

posted on Facebook (February 23, 2021)

About the Author:

It has been speculated that "Harry Nuckols" is a pseudonym, compounded by Frank Mentzer's comment that the actual author was someone named "Ron Charulsky":

Q. Who REALLY wrote B9 Castle Caldwell and Beyond? It's credited to "Harry Nuckols" but that's obviously a joke.

A. Why is that obvious?  It was written by a previously unpublished author named Ron Charulsky.

Frank Mentzer, posted on Dragonsfoot (January 17, 2006)

A statement he later didn't recall making:

Q. You mentioned at one point that the real person behind "Harry Nuckols" was Ron Charulsky, but I didn't see any follow-up after.

A. I don't recall writing that, and if I did I may have been drunk. I simply don't know.

Frank Mentzer, posted on Dragonsfoot (July 25, 2010)

And according to Clyde Caldwell:

There was no "Harry Nuckles"...that was a pseudonym. I remember that Bill Conners was involved in the creation of the module, but don't remember anyone else who was complicit.

Clyde Caldwell, 2010

Harry Nuckols (left) and Mary Poplawski, with Craig Robertson, from this blog (July 27, 2011)

Turns out that Harry Nuckols was the actual author:

I am Harry Nuckols, the author of Castle Caldwell and Beyond. Yes, it's my real name. I live in upstate New York. I am a retired computer programmer, and my chief interest is, and always has been, contract bridge. I have played in many parts of the United States, and in several other countries. My interest in D&D started with my two sons. We played frequently when they were young. They are both grown now, with children of their own, but they still play D&D occasionally.

Harry Nuckols, posted on Dragonsfoot (September 14, 2012)

Namyats:

Namyats is the benevolent entity who leaves the mystic bell in the Church of the Holy Sanctuary, for which one reviewer came up with a disturbing anagram ("My Satan", here).

In fact, Namyats is a bridge term, derived by spelling the name of bridge player "Stayman" backwards, and therefore an Easter egg included by bridge enthusiast, Nuckols.

Location:

The module was not explicitly set within the Lands and Environs of the D&D Wilderness Map #2 in the Mentzer Expert rulebook, although can be situated in the Northern Reaches.

Clifton Caldwell:

The death of Clifton Caldwell was reported in the Poor Wizard's Almanac III (1994) by Ann Dupuis:

Servants of Clifton Caldwell found their master dead on Klarmont 12 of AC 1011, apparently of a heart attack.  Baron Sherlane Halaran of Threshold subsequently confiscated Caldwell Castle, which Mr. Caldwell had purchased some twelve years ago.  The castle has been offered for sale for the price of six years' taxes owed on the property.

from "Distinguished Dead" (pg. 112) in the Poor Wizard's Almanac III

The entry supposes a location in Karameikos for Castle Caldwell, likely based on the supermodule "In Search of Adventure" (1987),

B8: Journey to the Rock

B8 "Journey to The Rock" (1984) by Michael Malone is a wilderness adventure culminating in a climactic set-piece encounter, for character levels 1-3.

Module B8 "Journey to The Rock" (1984) by Michael Malone.  Cover illustration by Larry Elmore.

The party is hired to discover the secret of The Rock, which includes recovering one piece of a two-part magical talisman.

Eight pregens with mini-bios are provided, also suitable for use as a handy roster of NPCs.

Players' Map to The Rock.  Cartography by David S. LaForce.

The trail to The Rock splits into three different paths, hearkening back to its origins as a tournament scenario.

The adventure is difficult for a group of 1st level characters to complete, and better suited for 2nd or 3rd level characters.

About the Author:

Malone won second place in TSR's second International Dungeon Design Contest (IDDC II) in 1980 with "The Wandering Trees" published in Dragon #57 (January 1982).

He drops off the radar after 1984, coinciding with TSR's mass layoffs around the same time.  I've been unable to track down any subsequent online presence or gaming credits.

The Rock:

Devils Tower in Wyoming.  Photo by Pattys-photos/Flickr

When I saw a photograph of Devils Tower a few years ago, I wondered if Larry Elmore might have drawn inspiration from the national monument for his cover illustration.

Location:

There is a section on "Placing the Area on the D&D Expert Maps", which suggests either the Grand Duchy of Karameikos* or the Repubilc of Darokin in the Lands and Environs of the D&D Wilderness Map #2 in the Mentzer Expert rulebook.

*one of the two locations suggested for the Grand Duchy of Karameikos is actually in the Five Shires (in the Cruth Mountains, on the river northwest of Wereskalot)

Of the three suggested locations, my preference is north of Lake Amsorak, in the Republic of Darokin, since the Grand Duchy of Karameikos is already well developed, although the adventure wasn't originally intended for the Mystara setting:

 

Q. Where is the basic module Journey to the Rock based? 

A. Nowhere.  It was a "suitable with any campaign" design.  Journey to the Rock was not set in any particular area of the Known World.  Should you need to place it, perhaps the best place would be in the vast unexplored region northwest of the Known World.

Dragon #177 (January, 1992)

Further Adventures:

Malone's map encapsulates a complete micro-setting, packed within a 19 x 14 mile area.  The level of detail suggests a basis in his own personal campaign world.

The City of Tuma

An ancient city, which disappeared, centuries ago.  Its mysterious buildings, some of them hundreds of feet tall, lack any doors or windows.

Looking for the Ocean

This hook suggests "a series of light-hearted, humorous adventures" as the lead-in to modules X1, X6, X7, or X8 (none of which are light-hearted or humorous).

Adventures with the Chameleon Men

The basis for a subterranean adventure, as a possible introduction to the Underdark.

Using Optional Encounters

Side adventures involving the elves of Sylvanhome, the dwarves of the Krayzen Mountains, or the gnomes of the Barkel Mountains.

The Horror of Lake Neshonan

A "Loch Ness"-type monster is terrorizing the area.

Strangely, the adventure does not provide suggestions for locating the other half of the magical talisman (which I presume is shaped like a capital M).

The Ghostly Horde of Tuma.  Illustration by Doug Watson.

New Monsters:

Chameleon Man, Winged Warrior, Rock Man, Sand Spider, Water Weird,* Ghostly Horde,** Crone of Chaos

*also appearing in RPGA1/B7 "Rahasia"; created by Ernie Gygax, as mentioned in the preface to the AD&D 1e Monster Manual (1977)

**reminiscent of the phantom army of Lothar in "Thuvia, Maid of Mars" (1916; 1920) by Edgar Rice Burroughs, as discussed in this thread on the Piazza in 2017

Mystery Origins:

According to the supermodule "In Search of Adventure" (1987), the module was based on a one-round tournament scenario, with three different trails to the Rock.

Malone might have designed his adventure for a con in San Diego in the early 1980s.  I've noted similarities with an earlier tournament scenario, as posted on Dragonsfoot back in 2015, here.

Trivia:

The module was brilliantly lampooned in Something Awful (July 22, 2010).