Iconic 1E characters?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Wow, thanks for the list.

The only magic-users/illusionist were either female or multi-classed. Interesting!

 

[Melan]

No such thing. (Not even in the Rogues Gallery.)

Edit: The closest thing you'll find to "iconic" characters during that era would probably be Morgan Ironwolf, Silverleaf, Black Dougal, etc. in the Moldvay Basic Set.

Yes, pretty much. While there are a lot of play examples in 1st edition or basic sets, they usually use throwaway characters who don't return later on. The Basic party is an exception, but even in their case, they don't approach the 3e iconic characters. They appear less often, and are less defined. They don't have a trademark appearance, for example (well, Morgan is unusually well-endowed, but who knows how she would look like on an Erol Otus painting ).

 

[grodog]

Characters:
Black Dougal (Player: Kevin Hendryx) Male Human LN Ranger 7th

Black Dougal is definitely Kevin Hendryx's PC, and the name also makes an appearance in TSR's Revolt on Antares minigame.

Illysio Morningstar (Player: Steve Marsh) Female Half-elf LG Fighter/Magic-user 5th

I don't know whether any of the others have been verified, but Illysio Morningstar at very least was an actual PC of Steve Marsh -- he sold off the character sheet on an ebay auction a couple years back (and it was discovered that, among other things, she had a 3 Wisdom!)

I'll have to double-check, but I'm pretty sure that I won one of the PC sheets Paul Stormberg was auctioning; not sure if it was from Steve Marsh or Tim Jiardini. I'll check after Heather's up for the day and post back

Interesting to note that Black Dougal's class (ranger) and alignment (LN) are incompatible, and that the multiclassed characters only have 1 level listed (and if that's supposed to be their level in both classes then Harry Furryfoot is past the level limit for a halfling fighter...). Careless editing, or evidence of house ruling within the hallowed halls of Lake Geneva itself?!

I think that the RG is one of the best collections of house rules and home campaign magic items from that era, and although the DM Log doesn't quite fall into the same realm as far as rules variants, it wouldn't surprise me to find that its info was driven by house rules.

 

[diaglo]

...Tim Jiardini.

who won Tim's hardback book

i won some of RJK's notes from the auctions.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Wasn't there a paladin named Strongheart and a half-orc assassin, too?

 

[diaglo]

Wasn't there a paladin named Strongheart and a half-orc assassin, too?

XL-1 Quest for the Heartstone ... and AC 1 The Shady Dragon Inn

a grab by TSR to enter the plushy market.
they also had plastic forms from LJN(iirc) for these characters.

Warduke, Kelek, etc...

 

[diaglo]

Beyond those statted out in the 1E Rogues Gallery, who were the 1E iconic characters and where did they appear?

you also might remember
Morley the Wizard from the radio ads.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

Wasn't there a paladin named Strongheart and a half-orc assassin, too?

Those are the LJN/AD&D line of toys from the 80s. I think they could be suitably considered iconics, at least the first lineup:

Strongheart, good paladin
Warduke, evil fighter
Kelek, evil sorcerer
Ringlerun, good wizard
Peralay/Melf, good fighter mage elf
Zarak, evil half-orc assassin
Elkhorn, good dwarf fighter
Mercion, good cleric female
Northlord, great barbarian
Ogre King, evil ogre leader
Young Male Titan, good titan

(Well, maybe not the last three, although Northlord was always one of my favorite figures. If they'd come out with a figure for Figgen, halfling thief, you'd almost have all of the classes from the PHB covered; though I guess Zarak could pitch for the Rogue and the Assassin PrC.)

 

[diaglo]

Those are the LJN/D&D line of toys from the 80s. I think they could be suitably considered iconics, at least the first lineup:

fify. they were for D&D not ADnD

edit: even though they say ADnD on them.

the stats for them are in XL-1

 

[Mighty Halfling]

Going way back to the Red Box, I always wondered if the characters presented on the box cover and others had names.

And for me, the iconic fighter will always be ... Borg!
Remember him? He was the sample character sheet filled out in the red book.

Prepare to be assimilated the old-fashioned way!