RetroRoleplaying: The Blog

This is a update to the Brown Box D&D and Wee Warriors Goodies Available (For Cancer Fund Donors) post. If you need more info, please check there. This update adds some new donor giveaway items, among other things.

As most readers know, my wife had oral cancer and that I worked on the original Microlite74 as way to cope during her recovery from 6 weeks of radiation treatment in 2008. We are some of the 40 to 50 million people in the US who do not have health insurance and do not qualify for government aid as we live in Texas and have no children. The cancer treatments and related expenses have cost over $120,000 so far. While almost three-quarters of this has been absorbed by hospital foundations or paid by previous fund drives, monthly payments by us, and the like, we still owe quite a bit. Worse, last month, my wife developed an open sore on her tongue that would not go away. It turned out to be nothing more than a sore (which is now slowly fading away), but it triggered over $1700 in tests and doctor visits. It was a very stressful month and left us with no savings and without money to pay some of our basic bills this month.

Everyone who donates anything at all (even a dollar) to the RetroRoleplaying Cancer Fund gets access to a few special downloads (like pdfs of two 1970s D&D fanzines I edited, a special edition of Microlite74, and more) as described on the RetroRoleplaying Cancer Fund web page as well as in progress draft downloads of my current projects). However, what you are probably most interested in are the special donor goodies....

Special Donor Goodies for the Brown Box/Wee Warriors RetroRoleplaying Cancer Fund Drive (Mainly Original D&D Items)

Anyone who donates during the next month -- now through April 8 11, 2013 -- will be eligible for some extra goodies in addition to the special downloads everyone who donates gets. The following was the original list of items that will be given away:

• TSR OD&D Brown Box, 3rd printing OD&D Brown Box 3rd printing (plus the 4 supplements each a 1st printings: Greyhawk, Blackmoor, Eldritch Wizardry, and Gods, Demi-Gods, & Heroes)
• Guidon Games Chainmail (2nd Edition, goldenrod cover)
• Wee Warriors Character Archaic (TSR distributed)
• Wee Warriors Palace of the Vampire Queen (TSR distributed)
• Wee Warriors The Dwarven Glory (TSR distributed)
• Wee Warriors The Endless Dungeon
• Wee Warriors Misty Isles
• TSR The Strategic Preview #3-6
• TSR The Strategic Review #1-7
• TSR Dungeon Geomorphs #1, #2, #3
• TSR Outdoor Geomorphs
• TSR Monster & Treasure Assortment #1, #2, #3

I've included links to these items on the Tome of Treasures (RPGGeek for the magazines) as some of these items are rare enough that you may not have heard of them. Heck, I had not heard of The Strategic Preview until I saw them in one of the boxes from Jay. The Acaeum has good information as well, but it is more focused on collectible value/printing differences than on what the item actually is about.

The following additional items will be given away provided an additional $500 is donated between now and the end of this donation drive on April 8th 11th:

• Guidon Games Chainmail 1st printing signed by Gygax and Perrin, good condition (donated by John C.)
• TSR Empire of the Petal Throne boxed set signed by Barker, excellent condition (donated by John C.)

The following additional items will be given away provided an additional $1000 is donated between now and the end of this donation drive on April 8th 11th:

• To The Aid of Falx (1981 Tournament printing) signed by Frank Mentzer, good condition (donated by John C.)
• Daystar West Pharaoh (1980) signed by Laura and Tracy Hickman, good condition (donated by John C.)

These items will be given away to first to high donors (the high donor gets his choice of 3 items, the second highest donor gets his choice of two items from those remaining, the third highest donor gets his choice of one item from those remaining). Any ties will be broken with TSR/OD&D trivia questions. The remaining 6 (or more, if John C.'s goals are meet) items will be raffled off: for every $10 a person donates, they will receive one chance for each item in this raffle. In addition, there will be a few additional "surprise items" raffled off. None of these surprise items are directly related to D&D.

I'd like to thank John C. for offering the new donor items and my Sunday Game players for suggesting the surprise items and donating a few of them.

The combination of items for the three highest donors and raffled items should give everyone a chance at a decent giveaway item, even if they can't afford to donate a lot. As always, everyone who donates any amount (even just a dollar) gets access to these special PDF downloads: The Grimoire #1, The Grimoire #2, Microlite74 2.0 Special Edition, Hidden Valley House Rules (B/X D&D), and more and access to the donor area of the new RetroRoleplaying Forum.

If you would like to help but cannot make a donation, please help spread the word around the blogsphere (and other places). In fact, if you make a post to your blog talking about this fundraising drive and post a link to your post in a comment to this post, we'll give you one entry in the raffle. Note: Your blog will have to have some way for us to email you if you get lucky or will will not be able to get your prize to you. I still have not been able to pass Mind Reading 101.

To get help us pay our cancer treatment related bills (and to get access to some special downloads and possibly the above mentioned items), send a donation in any amount -- small or large -- to me via Paypal. My apologies for having to ask for donations and my heartfelt thanks to everyone who donates. If you cannot donate but wish to help, please spread the word about my request and offer. Thanks in advance for any and all help.