A Deeper Slice Into Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Editions Role Aids Fantastic Treasures I & II by Alan Hammack From Mayfair Games

"Fantastic Treasures I &  II was written by Alan Hammack, with a cover by Boris Vallejo, and was published by Mayfair Games in 1984 & 1985 as a 96-page book."


Yesterday I wrote about using Mayfair Games Role Aids Demons I & II box sets, Fantastic Treasures, & Monsters of Myth & Legend. The response has been overwhelming but not so much in a good direction. I received a bunch of B.S. OSR product review requests that I quickly declined  to sort of earse the taste of one of the big secrets of the edition wars. You can find a comprehensive overview of the edition wars right here in this great blog post. 
 Guess what I'm gonna take a deeper look into Fantastic Treasures I & II which came out in 1984 & '85 respectively with a lovely cover  by Boris Vallejo.
The real treat here is how Fantastic Treasures I & II by Allan Hemback can be used. When your talking about the mythology of Earth's pagan gods these are the books to use. The entries are short brief, to the point, & specifically geared for use with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. There are a lot of folks who'd love you to forget the fact that;

"In 1993, Mayfair was sued by TSR, Inc., who argued that Role Aids violated their 1984 trademark agreement, being advertised as compatible with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. The court found that some of the line violated the trademark, but the line as a whole did not violate the agreement,^[5] and Mayfair continued publishing the line until the rights were bought by TSR." 

This came up in the Mayfair games wiki entry but its really ancient history at this point. What can be done for a old school or OSR mythology style game campaign that I'm in the middle of writing. Is the entries in Fantastic Treasures I & II can be turned into photo copied, printed out, & turned into  treasure cards!



What this means is the fact that you as the DM can now create your own mega dungeons workshops of the gods guarded by many of the high level AD&D  Kuntz & Ward Dieties & Demigods monsters.


This gets into something that I've said for years, the OSR materials by various authors can be mixed & matched with the original old school material to create your own campaign worlds. In fact Castles & Crusades was designed to provide a bridge gap into the old school material. It provides a solid base system, easy to use books with a modern game engine, plenty of old school push, and its readily available. 
 

I'm getting burnt off of the constant merry go round of endless OSR Kickstarters & non troversies that seem to be permeating the OSR community lately. The table top level of the hobby however in my home town & among friends has never been better! Lately I've been reaching for C&C plus my copy of the Arduin Grimoires.


Dave Hargrave's alternative three little brown books align with a design ideal that I noticed in Fantastic Treasures I & II by Allan Hemback namely that power attracts power. This lure attracts adventurers like moths to the flame of treasure. The right treasure for the right campaign makes all of the difference in the world. As well as being the guiding light & lure of the PC's to their ascend it can also be the lure of death. It really depends upon the tone & adventure setting that the DM wants to create.
Man I'm glad that picked up Fantastic Treasures I & II by Alan Hammack all of those years ago in West Hartford,Connecticut at War & Pieces. They were recommended by DM Steven all of those years ago!