Esteemed Acaei,

Got directed to your hallowed forum by the ENWORLDians when I put to them the question below so here goes:

Can anybody provide me with the original texts describing the following OD&D/AD&D1E monsters in certain - very early - issues of Alarums & Excursions (APA)?

BANTH, by Jason R. Saylor and Rodney Tobar
BLACK LEECH, by Larry Stehle
BOGY, by Bear Hedberg
CENSUS-TAKER, by Cheryl P. Lloyd
DEATH SNAKE, by Bill Bleuth
GLITCH, by Chris Pettus (issue #18?)
GOLD EATER, by Lee Gold
IRON DEMON, by Glen Blacow
KZIN, by Mark Swanson
MAGIC ABSORBER, by Nicolai Shapiro (Nicholai Shapers?  issue #12?)
SPHEX, by Nicolai Shapiro
TANSTAAFL, by Bill Taylor (after Robert Heinlein?)
THREEP, by Robert Hollandier (Robert Hollander?)
TYPO, by Lee Gold

Failing that, any other information that could lead to retrieval of said texts or transcripts thereof (e.g., issue numbers) would be very, very much appreciated.

I have already contacted the people at A&E but unfortunately they couldn't help me any further.


Much obliged,


ilgatto

ilgatto wrote:Got directed to your hallowed forum by the ENWORLDians when I put to them the question below so here goes:

That was me, for the record

WOW! Thanx a lot! I've been wondering about these monsters for years and years now so it's a true pleasure to finally see one of them as it appeared originally.

I assume that "Notes from the Underground" is the name of the column that has the text? As in: its 7th instalment?

Also looks like someone took this monster and then went and created the spell Chromatic Orb (UA), what?

Can't wait for the Glitch!


ilgatto

A&E#18 Shores of Infinity By Chris Pettus (With thse APA zines each contributor is considered to be sending in their own zine, hence the titles and numbering of their contributions.

GLITCH: AC 9; Number: 1 Dice: 1+4: Move: 12". Lair & Treas: Nil
This little critter looks somewhat like a tribble (a one inch diameter ball of fur). They are complete pacifists but are fascinated by noise, wondering why the strange people are doing that. When a melee is being conducted within 30' of a Glitch, all attacking must save vs. magic or they will not hit (do not roll), no spells will take, etc... This will continue until either the melee or the Glitch moves away. Glitches, if attacked, will ise a panic teleport similar to a blink dog's Blink. When watching a melee, they will hide in shadows with the same successs as a 9th level thief.

Being a bit of an idiot webwise I only just discovered some of you guys started indexing A&E earlier. Using what was there and data I gathered over the years led to the following, which may hopefully ease any consulting of back issues?

The below is based on information found in the A&E contents listings in the Acaeum wiki, on mentionings in White Dwarf magazine (WD), mostly in the "Monsters Mild & Malign" sections of WD4 and WD5 and, to a lesser extent, WD6 (Fiend Factory) and WD7 (Lair of the Demon Queen and letter by Dr. J. A. Gilmore) and on a list of contributors to A&E provided by Lee Gold, which is hereunder attached.
Since WD5 was published late 1977 one could assume that most of the monsters below will have appeared before A&E31 (March 1978) except, perhaps, the census-taker, the tanstaafl (both WD6, April/May 1978) and the soul feed (WD7, June/July 1978).

White Dwarf 4 (December/January 1977/1978)
BLACK LEECH (Larry Stehle) in A&E 16, 19, 24, 29, 31?
DEATH SNAKE (Bill Bleuth or Bleuel) in A&E 16, 18, 19, 25, 27?
TYPO* (Lee Gold) in A&E 1-4 or 6-31? As in, not in issue 5

White Dwarf 5 (February/March 1978)
BANTH (Jason R. Saylor and Rodney Tobar) in A&E 18?
BOGY (Bear Hedberg) in A&E 3?
GOLD EATER (Lee Gold) in A&E 1-4 or 6-31? (i.e., not in 5)
IRON DEMON (Glenn Blacow or Blascow) in A&E 9-17, 19-22, 24 to 27?
KZIN** (Mark Swanson) in A&E 1-4, 6-15, 18, 23, 24, 26, 29, 30?
SPHEX*** (Nicolai Shapero or Nicholai Shapers or Nicolai Shapiro) in A&E 5, 8-14, 16-21, 24, 28, 31?
THREEP (Robert Hollander or Hollandier) in A&E 4, 12, 13, 19, 20, 24, 25, 28?

White Dwarf 6 (April/May 1978)
CENSUS-TAKER (Cheryl P. Lloyd) in A&E 19-21, 23, 24, 26, 29?
TANSTAAFL**** (Bill Taylor) in A&E 16, 18, 20, 26?

White Dwarf 7 (June/July 1978)
SOUL FEED (Nicolai Shapero or Nicholai Shapers or Nicolai Shapiro) in A&E 5, 8-14, 16-21, 24, 28, 31?

* From Walter A. Willis and Bob Shaw, The Enchanted Duplicator (1954)
** From Larry Niven, Ringworld novels (started 1970?)
*** From Murray Leinster, Exploration Team, in: Astounding Science Fiction, March 1956 (1956)
**** From Robert Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, in: If (issues December 1965, January 1966, February 1966, March 1966 and April 1966) (1965-1966)