Wed May 11, 2005 8:12 pm  
The Collector's Trove Presents the Robert J Kuntz Collection

The Collector's Trove Presents the Robert J Kuntz Collection


Howdy Folks,


The Collector's Trove Presents: the Robert J. Kuntz Collection! Another fine auction from the Collector's Trove, featuring the collections of past TSR employees, creators of Dungeons and Dragons and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. This is the sixth in a series of such auctions which have included David C. Sutherland III, Stephen. R. Marsh, Timothy M. Jiardini, and now Robert J. Kuntz, one of the founding players of D&D!

The Collector's Trove has been authorized to auction this and many other items from the collection of Robert J. Kuntz. These items were acquired during the last 37 years of Rob's amateur and professional involvement with wargames, roleplaying games, strategy games, and board games, many years of that time spent as an employee of TSR, the company that founded the roleplaying game industry, as well as several years with his own company, Creations Unlimited.

Each lot comes with its own unique Letter of Authentication personally signed by Robert J. Kuntz.

Rob, as you know, is a longstanding force in the gaming world, contributing to countless games and articles. He has helped create games for generations of players. War games, roleplaying games, strategy games, and board games, Rob has done it all, and with the care and intensity that only a true fan of the historical, sci-fi, fantasy game genre could uphold.

If Gary Gygax is the father of D&D, then Rob is truly the eldest son of D&D. Living only a few blocks away from Gary, Rob and he met in 1968, beginning a friendship that would make them allies and opponents at the gaming table for many years to come. The original playtester for Chainmail (1971) and Dungeons and Dragons (1972), Rob helped to shape both games by his clever and excellent play.

Indeed, Rob's own character, Robilar, rolled up on Gary's kitchen table, became the stuff of legends in the annals of D&D and the World of Greyhawk. Rob's excellent play guided Robilar to be the first character to complete Greyhawk Castle (1973) for which Gary bestowed upon him the mantle of co-DM. Rob also managed a number of other near-mythological feats with Robilar, including: being the first player to complete The Tomb of Horrors, ransacking the Temple of Elemental Evil, freeing the demoness Zuggutmoy, and releasing nine gods from the depths of Greyhawk Castle.

Not to be overlooked is Rob's own ability as a writer, editor, game designer, and DM. During his long and distinguished involvement with the gaming industry, he has helped to create the original Dungeons & Dragons game with Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974, edited M.A.R. Barker's Empire of the Petal Throne boxed set, co-authored the first D&D rules expansion: Greyhawk: Supplement I, contributed to and edited Blackmoor: Supplement II, and co-wrote Gods, Demigods & Heroes: Supplement IV with Jim Ward, later to become Deities & Demigods for AD&D (1980).

Taking on the role of DM, Rob co-DM'd the famous Greyhawk campaign with Gary Gygax for many years, established Kalibruhn - the third D&D campaign setting, and created dozens of scenarios to challenge the likes of Mordenkainen, Bigby, and Yrag, played by Gary Gygax, and Tenser, played by Ernie Gygax. These adventures later became the classic modules such as WG5 Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure, the epic Maze of Zayene series, Garden of the Plant Master, and tournament modules such as To the City of Brass and The City of Brass. In 1986 Rob founded his own RPG company, Creations Unlimited, to publish the four part Maze of Zayene series and Garden of the Plantmaster. Originally these were D&D adventures set in Greyhawk and Kalibruhn but were later adapted to a generic-system format. Other modules he developed, helped design, and lent an inspirational hand include, S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, and WG4 Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun. Later he contributed to WG8 Fate of Istus, providing the maps for Rauxes and Verbobonc and writing the adventures, Down with the Wizard and Iuz's Gambit.

Rob has written numerous articles for The Strategic Review, Dragon Magazine, Dungeon Magazine, Wargaming, and Crusader Magazine. For Dragon Magazine he created the Sorcerer's Scroll column, maintained the Greyhawk's World column with Gary Gygax, designed King of the Table Top and Magus board games as special inserts, and, even today, contributes to the Up on a Soapbox column, which details episodes from the original Greyhawk and Kalibruhn campaigns. Rob was recently honored to design the super-adventure Maure Castle for Dungeon Magazine's 30th Anniversary of D&D issue and is now working on the latest installment of the Maure Castle adventure for a future issue. He also maintains a column in the Crusader, a Castles and Crusades oriented magazine.

Rob has designed several board games, including Kings & Things for West End Games (which won the Charles Roberts Award for Best Fantasy/Science Fiction Game of 1986).

Most recently, Rob has republished and updated his classic Creations Unlimited adventures, and has written Dark Druids for Troll Lord Games, and Sir Robilar's City of Brass for Kenzer & Company. He and Gary Gygax are also at work on publishing the massive Castle Zagyg, a six part mega-campaign setting and ultimate dungeon for use with the Castles and Crusades game by Troll Lord Games. The two are also working to turn their Up on a Soapbox stories from Dragon Magazine into a compilation, adding quite a bit of new material.

Rob's involvement in gaming goes back to 1968 and the breadth and depth of his contributions is a roadmap for the history of the industry. Quite a legacy indeed!

Now you have the opportunity to be a curator of a portion of this legacy! I look forward to seeing your bids!

The auction will be posted on Sunday, May 15th and end on Sunday, May 22nd. I will try to begin listing items at 6:30 PM CST. Bookmark this link to get the first crack at them: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfsooZ2QQfsopZ2QQsassZstormber. Here is just a sampling of the items up for auction:

Creations Unlimited Collector's Set Autographed
2001 GenCon Program
2001 Origins Program
2004 Rob Kuntz GenCon Indy Badge
TLG Dark Druids Proof Copy
TLG The Hermit Autographed by Gary Gygax
TSR D&D Supplement I: Greyhawk Annotated Copy
TSR World of Greyhawk 1983 Set DM's Copy
TSR WG5 Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure Proof Copy
TSR AD&D Rogues Gallery Autographed
TSR AD&D WG8 Fate of Istus Author's Copy
TSR AD&D Greyhawk: From the Ashes Boxed Set
TSR AD&D Greyhawk Player's Guide
TSR AD&D Greyhawk The Adventure Begins
TSR D&D RPGA Only Gazetteer Hard to Find!
TSR RPGA Member Handbook
TSR AD&D Fiend Folio
TSR AD&D Monster Manual II Autographed
TSR AD&D Player's Handbook
TSR AD&D Dungeon Master Guide
TSR D&D Basic Set Gift by Point of Focus Films Documentary
James M. Ward's Metamorphosis Alpha Universe GenCon 2001
James M. Ward's D&D Enchanted Locations GenCon 2001
James M. Ward's D&D Treasure Quests GenCon 2001
Campaign Magazine Premier Issue Kuntz Column Issued at GenCon
Campaign Magazine Issue #4
TSR D&D AD&D Dragon Issue 59
TSR D&D AD&D Dragon Issue 80
TSR D&D AD&D Dragon Issue 88
TSR D&D AD&D Dragon Issue 91
TSR D&D AD&D Dragon Issue 92
TSR D&D AD&D Dragon Issue 93
TSR D&D AD&D Dragon Issue 128
TSR Dragon Magazine Issue 229
TSR Dragon Magazine Issue 308
TSR Dragon Magazine Issue 316
TSR D&D AD&D Best of The Dragon Vol. I
TSR Dragontales Anthology of Fantasy Fiction
TSR Dragon Annual Issue 1
TSR Dungeon Magazine Issue 80
TSR Dungeon Magazine Issue 91
TSR Dungeon Magazine Issue 92
TSR Dungeon Magazine Issue 95
United Playtest Gaming Frontiers Volume 1
United Playtest Gaming Frontiers Volume 2 Kuntz Interview
GPI Gateways Issue 7 Kuntz Interview
Living Greyhawk Journal Issue 0
Living Greyhawk Journal Issue 4
TSR D&D AD&D RPGA Polyhedron Issue 144
TSR D&D AD&D RPGA Polyhedron Issue 147
TSR D&D AD&D RPGA Polyhedron Issue 148
The Palladium Book of Weapons and Armor
NEW! D20 D&D Maze of Zayene All Four Modules!
D&D Dave Arneson's Blackmoor Autographed!
HFP 1003 LA The Lejendary Rules Gary Gygax
HFP 1006 LA Lejend Master's Lore Gary Gygax
HFP 1009 LA Beasts of Lejend Collector's Copy
HFP 1011 LA Enclave
Tom Wham's 1st Greyhawk Character Sheet 1972
Tom Wham's 2nd Greyhawk Character Sheet 1972
WoG Orig. Map Lost Caverns of Tsojconth 1972
Pied Piper Illustration for Vault Project
Adventurer's Guild Gold Promotion Poster
Dark Chateau Design Notes and Sketch Map
Dungeon 112 Maure Castle Author's Copy +Bonus
Dungeon 112 Maure Castle Original Sketch Map
Outdoor Maps Barbarous Coast Orig. Wild Coast
City of Brass Maps
"Gamemaster" Unfinished Fiction Ms. RJK
"People Die All the Time" Unfinished Ms. RJK
Artifact of the Demon Senders File Copy
D&D Past Present and Future File Copy
The Three Ancients of Suloise Adventure Ms.
Concept Notes King of the Tabletop Game
World of Kalibruhn Player's Map c. 1979
Ice Grave Adventure Original Ms. 1997
Greyhawk Castle Demonworld Original Map 1972!
WoG Pirates of the Isle of Ivory Ms.
WoG Player Roster Calendar of Play 1979
People Die All the Time Original Fiction Ms.
Robilar's City of Brass Contracts/Letters
The Barbarous Cost (Wild Coast) Color Maps
Original Origins Metagame Card Dave Arneson
Original Character Sheet Quij's Cousin
Advertisement Proofs for The Barbarous Coast
Editorial Copy Sir Robilar's City of Brass
Empire of the Petal Throne Adventure 1975
Empire of the Petal Throne Adventure 1975
WoG Outdoor Elven Adventure Gnarley Woods
WoK Reference Copy World Of Kalibruhn 1970's
WoG Wild Coast Mad Wizard Krazor Adventure
File Copy D&D Supplement I Greyhawk Contract
File Copy Supplement I Royalties Payout 1975
File Copy World of Greyhawk Expansion 1982
"The DM Shuffle" Humorous Song for Erik Shook
Domesday Book 13 Castle & Crusade Society '72
History of D&D Research Notes and Manuscript
Monster Description Prototype for Zayene '86
Garden of the Plant Master Tharizdun Notes
Board Game Concept Note and Prototype Board
Huge Lot Pulp Science Fiction and Fantasy 50's-90's
J.R.R. Tolkien The Silmarillion 1977 Hardback
Letter to Gary Gygax Inspired Tolkien in D&D
Dragon Submission Tolkien in D&D Notes 1978
1972 Pre-Greyhawk Adventure Map by RJK EGG
1975 Dragon Game Dave Megarry Dungeon!
1986 Farm Game Original Notes Drawings Board
Tales of the Green Dragon Inn Printouts
Pied Piper Web Page Design City of Brass
Greyhawk Campaign Magic Item Design Notes
GenCon VIII 1975 Tournament Sunken City
WoG Greyhawk Castle Bottle City Level 1973
WoG Wild Coast Dark Druids Adventure 1975
Sir Robilar's City of Brass Manuscript Draft
WoG Wild Coast NPC Organization Notes 1972
WoG City of Greyhawk NPC Places Notes '72
WoG Mark Ratner's Character Sheet Ayelarach
WoG Formalhaut Lovecraftian Adventure 1975
TSR Shipping Label Addressed Rob Kuntz 80's
World War Board Game Original Concept Notes
Dragon Magazine Letter Roger Moore Signature
Dragon Magazine Magus Correspondence
Dragon Magazine Magus Contract Signatures
Kings & Things Royalty Letter West End Games
1987 Creations Unlimited Letterhead Signed
Black Festival Fantasy Fiction by RJK
Living Greyhawk Gazetteer Prepub Manuscript
Writing Guidelines for Living Greyhawk
Dragon Magazine Magus Game Manuscript 1986
Original Drafts City of Brass Maps
Formatting Mock-ups Maze of Zayene Maps 1986
WoK Original World of Kalibruhn Global Map
Sorcerer's Scroll Orig. Concept Notes Art '77
Collection of Illustrations by RJK
Drystaff the Wizard Comic Strip Drawing 1976
Monster Manual Cartoon Sketch 1977
Maze of Zayene Concept Sketches 1979 to 1980
City of Brass Concept Sketches 1981 to 1983
Miscellaneous Illustrations 1981 to 1987
WoG Adventure Greyhawk City Environs 1975
Word Sheet for Fiction and RPG Writing
Citadel of the Fire Lord Planar Adventure
TSR Original Board Game Design Ragnarok
TSR Module Submission Guidelines 1980
WoG Dungeon Adventure Near City of Greyhawk
WoG City of Greyhawk Sewers and Catacombs
WoG World of Greyhawk Marketing Plan 1997
WoK Proof Submissions of Artwork 1987
WoG Alternate Plane Hand drawn Color Map
WoG Magic Items List Greyhawk Campaign 1970's
WoK Play by Mail Campaign Start-up Letter
WoG Mtn. of Xwa, The Fire Demon Adventure '77
WoG Greyhawk Castle Dragon Level Gary Gygax
WoG City of Greyhawk Striped Mage's Tower!
WoG "Terik's Tower" Wizard's Tower & Dungeon
Orig. Notes City of Brass Necromancer Games
Original Notes Ice Drakes
WoG TSR Orignal Map Rauxes WG8 Fate of Istus
WoG Orig. Notes Artifacts of the Demonsenders
WoK Map Village of Borlink
Necromancer Games Letters City of Brass
WoG TSR Color Map Rauxes WG8 Fate of Istus
Orig. City of Brass Map Narshvan's Comet
Barbarous Coast Draft Map Town of Jepton
Comp Sheet Maze of Zayene GenCon 2001 Handout
Orig. City of Brass Drawing Fire Trobe
Orig. City of Brass Hierarchy Notes
WoG Original Campaign Notes New Creatures
WoG Temple of The Latter Day Old Ones
WoG The Stalk Adventure Lair of Spider Queen
Maze of Zayene 4 The Eight Kings Editorial Ms
CU 1987 Maze of Zayene Author's Personal Set
CU 1987 Garden of the Plantmaster Author's
Maze of Zayene 1 Original Artwork 18 Pcs.
Maze of Zayene 2 Original Artwork 18 Pcs.
Maze of Zayene 3 Original Artwork 18 Pcs.
Maze of Zayene 4 Original Artwork 18 Pcs.
Tin of Rob Kuntz's Original Gaming Dice
WoG Character Sheet for Lord Robilar c. 1976
The Myths of the Norsemen H.A. Guerber 1895 (D&D Gods, Demigods, and Heroes Sourcebook/Art)
West End Games Kings & Things Designer's Copy
Dragon Magazine Magus Designer's Copy w/ Dice
Tournament Module To the City of Brass Signed

Good luck!

Paul