History question: first appearance of 'Well of Many Worlds' ?

[DrunkonDuty]

I'll chime in and agree with KJSEvans: the magic items, especially the Artifacts and Relics, in the old DMG were really imaginative and exciting. They were filled with weird and whacky and inspiration.

Something the magic items in 3rd ed. lack. I put this down to the fact that every magic item comes with a recipe. Anything that takes the mystery out of magic items de-magifies* it a bit for me.

Also, I was just reading through the 3rd ed. list of artifacts and I get a sense of "meh, whatever." The writing lacks inspiration. Compare the 2 quotes below. Both are the fluff description from the Eye of Vecna. (Actually the 3rd ed. quote is from the Hand and Eye of Vecna. The 1st ed. quote comes from the Eye alone, there's more for the Hand.)

from 3rd ed. DMG

The archlich Vecna may have
been the most powerful wizard ever to have lived. He may also
have been the most evil. Apparently risen now to deityhood, he
left behind relics embodying remnants of his power—the mummified​

remains of his hand and his eye.

from 1st ed. DMG

Seldom is the name of Vecna spoken except in hushed
voice, and never within hearing of strangers, for legends say that the
phantom of this once supreme lich still rooms the Material Plane. ​

​

​

​

It is
certain that when Vecna finally met his doom, one eye and one hand
survived. The Eye of Vecna is said to glow in the same manner as that of a feral creature. It appears to be an agate until it is placed in an empty eye socket of a living character. Once pressed in, it instantly and irrevocably grafts itself to the head, and it cannot be removed or harmed without slaying the character.​

The second one is so much more interesting. It piques imagination. Yes, it is of a purplish colour. But that's a + in my book. Whereas the 3rd ed. version is all "May have that, may have this, apparently." Limp.

Two more things in the favour of the 1st ed artifacts are:
1. GM chooses the powers. Players don't know what they're getting.
2. Side effects. (Also chosen by the GM.)

The finding out what will happen is part of the fun. I want more mystery in my adventures, dammit!

And I, too, want to run a game with one of the old artifacts as a goal. Always wanted to use The Throne of the Gods. Or the Machine of Lum the Mad. Re-reading the Machine of Lum makes me think of an huge pipe organ. The pipes rise up and disappear into shadows cast by no visible thing. When it's played the Machine emanates eldritch radiations and otherworldly thredonies. These break down the walls between the worlds allowing the operator to summon terrible things and unleash storms of chaos.

Reading a little further: maybe this should be Heward's Mystical Organ. It being an organ and all.

cheers.


*What an ugly neologism. I apologise.

 

[Ripzerai]

From what I've read of Gygax's playing style, I strongly suspect that both the portable hole and the well of many worlds are based directly on Bugs Bunny's portable hole. The well is really just a portable hole that connects to many other planes rather than a single, consistent extradimensional space.

But I guess we'll never know for sure!

 

[Jacob]

From what I've read of Gygax's playing style, I strongly suspect that both the portable hole and the well of many worlds are based directly on Bugs Bunny's portable hole. The well is really just a portable hole that connects to many other planes rather than a single, consistent extradimensional space.

But I guess we'll never know for sure!

More proof that D&D should never be taken seriously. I think I need to really start looking at what games Gygax created.

 

[FireLance]

More proof that D&D should never be taken seriously. I think I need to really start looking at what games Gygax created.

I think one of the strengths of D&D is that it can be taken seriously - or not - and you can do either, or both, depending on your preferences.

This is the game that gave us Ravenloft ... and the flumph.

 

[Nikosandros]

This is the game that gave us Ravenloft ... and the flumph.

Now I want to see a new Domain of Dread article in Dragon detailing Flumphonia.

 

[Thanlis]

Um... I think you're confusing the Well World with something else. It's Sci-fi series and has more or less nothing to do with the Well of World's effect. I vaugely remember a 'random' sorter and some teleport tech, but nothing like a portable hole to elsewhere.

That's how the Well World worked, actually. There were teleport nexii scattered on Markovian colony worlds all over the place, and if you got too close you got sucked down to the Well World. Not as random as the Well of Many Worlds, but pretty similar. Hard to say if there was inspiration there, though. First Well of Souls book came out in 1977, so the timing is very tight.