#The Kidnapping of Princess Arelina

[oldschoolfrp]

Most early dungeon terrain sets were flat 2-D designs, with the occasional 3-D version made as a homemade DIY craft project, but TSR eventually released their own cardstock dungeon in 1984, AC3: 3-D Dragon Tiles featuring The Kidnapping of Princess Arelina. The tiles, walls, and figures were by Dennis Kauth and Jim Roslof, with a short adventure by Garry Spiegle intended for use with either D&D or AD&D.

I wonder whether this was created in response to that scene in E.T. which may have created some expectations about what a D&D game should look like on the table.

[dndhistory]

400. David "Zeb" Cook - AC3 (but really AC8): The Revenge of Rusak (1985)

First of all let's address the elephant sized typo on the cover, this is not AC3 (which was The Kidnapping of Princess Arelina from 1984) but AC8 which can make it a bit confusing. Interestingly, and even more confusingly, this is a direct sequel to AC3 in terms of the adventure that comes bundled in with the models.

The idea of this AC (which stands for accessory) module is to provide players and DMs with some 3-D modules that can be used in play, in this case specifically for wilderness adventures. AC3 did something similar but with dungeon 3-D models then. This tradition comes all the way back from the beginning of D&D with the Dungeon Geomorphs and remains to our days with the Terrain Campaign Case that came out a couple of years ago.

Bundled together with these models is a mini adventure for you to make use of the cardboard constructions, and that is a direct sequel to the earlier set of 3-D models, so you could buy them both and play through it. Fun stuff. Also, we got to entry 400 in this blog! Only 39 years of coverage to go! 

[vintagerpg]

The Revenge of Rusak is probably most notable for being one of several Dungeons & Dragons supplements to include fold-up paper building, miniatures and heavy cardboard Dragon Tiles (others include the previous module in the story, The Kidnapping of Princess Arelina, the Greyhawk modules Falcon’s Revenge and Falconmaster, the Cities of Mystery box set and probably more I don’t know about). They’re all kind of awesome.

I had this when I was a kid and I am sure I made a mess of it. I remember not taking the time to cut the notches out of the tent fringe. I also remember being kind of fascinated by Rusak’s rainbow robes and the fact that the none of the character standees on the cover are included inside. I admit, I am hard pressed to not cut this up and put it together. It looks like a perfectly fun way to pass an afternoon. Maybe if a replacement wasn’t so damn expensive…

Finally, a weird note. Even though the cover says it was AC3, Revenge of Rusak is AC8. AC3 was the first part, The Kidnapping of Princess Arelina. I’m sure that is interesting to someone...

[oldschoolfrp]

Somehow . . . Rusak has returned, despite fighting to the death at the end of AC3: The Kidnapping of Princess Arelina. AC8: 3-D Dragon Tiles featuring The Revenge of Rusak (TSR, 1985) is a sequel to AC3, with a typo on the cover repeating the AC3 product code. This time the terrain tiles and stand-up figures are designed for wilderness adventures, with art by Dennis and Marsha Kauth. The accompanying adventure by David "Zeb" Cook is set several years after AC3's dungeon adventure, and is intended for use with the D&D Expert rules, though AD&D is mentioned in the back cover text:

[dndhistory]

306. Garry Spiegle - AC3: The Kidnapping of Princess Arelina (1984) 

A module that is both adventure and DM accessory, this is particularly notable for the cardboard pieces that can be used in this or other adventures, these include 3D character models and floor tiles that you can use to build your dungeon.

Together with the cardboard accessories you get a small and straight forward adventure of the "rescue the princess" style. Not much to say about that, except that it does have the interesting distinction of containing, in each room, details on how to set it up using the pieces provided.

So, more of an accessory than a module, really, as the adventure is a bit ho-hum, it's still a pretty interesting D&D product, which was also compatible with AD&D (obviously) and started the Dragon Tiles series, which would have plenty more entries through the years.