Dungeons & Dragons cartoon encyclopaedia

Hey look, a Dungeons & Dragons ride!

2030-12-07T00:00:00.041Z

With these fateful words six friends visiting an amusement park one Sunday climb aboard a hexed roller-coaster ride and are magically transported into the Realm of Dungeons & Dragons. Here they are mentored by a gnomish wizard named the Dungeon Master who assigns them roles along with magical totems.

Steadfast Hank is appointed ranger and given a bow that fires versatile arrows of golden energy, brash youngster Bobby is appointed barbarian and given a club that wreaks tremendous havoc, bumbling Albert who is nicknamed Presto is appointed magician and given a conjuring hat, timid Sheila is appointed thief and given a cloak of invisibility, Eric the haughty coward is appointed cavalier and given a shield complete with forcefield, while gymnast Diana is appointed acrobat and given a javelin that grows and shrinks.

Befriending a baby unicorn they nickname Uni the kids are soon caught in a skirmish between a five-headed dragon known as Tiamat and the fiendish Venger who wants their totems to subjugate the many-headed dragon queen before he can conquer the Realm.

Stranded in this fantastic world these new heroes must follow the Dungeon Master's cryptic advice as he guides them homewards on adventures exploring the Realm, battling monsters, opposing tyrants and outwitting Venger.

ages?

2011-12-11T22:45:00.011Z

How old is Bobby? How old is Hank? How is Diana? How old is Presto? How old is Eric? How old is Sheila? None of these questions were answered directly in the cartoon but the Series Bible states the ages of four of the heroes.

Bobby is stated to be eight years old in the Series Bible. This means that the birthday he is celebrating in the Servant Of Evil episode is his ninth. Four episodes later in the Lost Children episode, when gathering firewood with Sogar, Bobby claims that he is nearly ten. But from a deleted scene in the Servant Of Evil script Sheila claims that her brother is seven years old, making his birthday the next day his eighth, although this contradicts the Series Bible and would make the three intervening episodes span a period of nearly two years.

Hank is stated to be fifteen years old in the Series Bible.

Diana is stated to be a year younger than Hank in the Series Bible, making her fourteen years old.

Presto is stated to be fourteen years old in the Series Bible.

Eric's age is not stated but in the Time Lost episode he claims that he took history three times, possibly suggesting that he has finished his twelfth grade education and had to resit his history exam twice.

Sheila's age is not stated.

Uni's age is not stated.

In the script for Requiem a repentant Venger admits that he became the pupil of the Nameless One millennia ago, so as he used the plural term he is at least two thousand years old.

Dungeon Master, being Venger's father, must also be at least two thousand years old and senior to Venger.

club of the barbarian

2011-12-09T00:00:00.000Z

One of the magical totems given to the heroes by the Dungeon Master is a club, and this is received by Bobby who inherits the role of barbarian.

The club looks like a simple hewn branch but can deliver tremendous damage and emit shockwaves along the ground, causing it to rupture open as if experiencing an earthquake.

Some of the more destructive things the club has wreaked is collapsing a waterfall's cliff-face and partially destroying the Maze of Darkness. In the latter example, Bobby was launched at its ziggurat like a missile but survived the explosion unscathed so possibly the club also bestows the owner some degree of invulnerability, although he has suffered minor wounds before too, such as a scratch from a dragon turtle.

The club can also be used as a bat to deflect projectiles and energy bolts.

javelin of the acrobat

2011-12-08T00:00:00.002Z

One of the magical totems given to the heroes by the Dungeon Master is a javelin, and this is received by Diana who inherits the role of acrobat.

The javelin appears to be wooden but glows green.

Although called a javelin it does not have a pointed head and is blunt like a staff, but despite this it is just as aerodynamic as a spear.

Diana can mentally will the javelin to shrink down to a few inches so that it can be stored in her belt or expand up to six foot.

The javelin seems to be robust but it has been snapped in half before in the jaws of a dragon turtle but was magically repaired by Diana who simply fused the two parts by touching them together. When the javelin broke she did not seemed bothered or pay particular attention to connecting the two parts so possibly this has happened before in an off-screen adventure.

Diana normally uses the javelin as a vaulting pole or quarterstaff when faced with enemies but has developed a stunt where she whirls it impossibly fast like a propeller to act as a shield or to shred weapons such as spears. She has also thrown a whirling javelin and had it ricochet off walls like a spinning top. When thrown it can return back to her like a boomerang. The javelin can also be used defensively to parry or deflect bolts of energy.

The Series Bible states that ownership of the javelin augments Diana's muscle and agility but if she is without it for more than thirty seconds then she loses this augmentation.

hat of the magician

2011-12-07T00:00:00.004Z

One of the magical totems given to the heroes by the Dungeon Master is a hat, and this is received by Presto who inherits the role of magician.

The conical hat is made from green cloth and Presto can attempt to conjure things from within its purple glowing depths. Often the conjured items are contemporary. Usually he says improvised rhyming couplets before conjuring but these seem to be more of an aid for concentration as he has conjured things without saying anything too. The size of the conjurations are not limited to the hat's circumference, with the hat either expanding or the conjured item appearing beside Presto. Animals and monsters such as giant rabbits, a goldfish, cows, chickens, dragons, bugs, bats, giant wasps and termites have been conjured from the hat but never a person. Presto has made a previously conjured picnic vanish by stashing it back inside his hat but whether he can do likewise with normal things that he hasn't conjured is unknown.

Sometimes Presto conjures a spell rather than an object from the hat.

Presto is not the only person to have used the hat. Uni has conjured a flying carpet from the hat by gripping it in her mouth while muttering an incantation, and a lizard man has conjured a black feathered bird without using an incantation.

Below is a list of items that Presto has conjured from his hat, with accompanying incantation if any was used.

In the original introduction sequence Presto shows some beginner's luck by conjuring three noosed ropes so that he and his friends can escape the rampaging Tiamat.

During the introduction for the second series Presto conjures glowing globes that act as marbles, causing the pursuing half-orcs to slip and stumble.

INCANTATION: "Hey Presto!"

Presto conjures a cow in lieu of hamburgers. The same cow is conjured again when Eric demands a steed of his own, rather than sharing a horse with one of his friends.

INCANTATION: "Abracamere, magic burgers appear!"

Pursued by Tiamat in Merlin's castle the heroes formulate a trap for the dragon by opening the trapdoor to the castle's dungeon and having Presto conjures a rolled up purple carpet that is then laid over the entrance to make a pit trap.

Trekking through the gloomy mushroom forest and suspecting that there are creatures watching them, Presto attempts to conjure a light source and produces a birthday cake complete with lit candles.

Menaced by the snail people, Presto tries to conjure the creatures away with an incantation. Unfortunately his request to banish them from his sight is obliged with a bucket appearing over his head, rendering him unable to see them.

INCANTATION: "Powers that come and go in the night, banish these snail things from my sight!"

Presto tries to conjure a shield for Sir John but produces a makeshift one in the form of a metal dustbin lid.

INCANTATION: "Powers of magic that come with the dawn, make up a shield for brave Sir John!"

When the heroes rush to save Sir John from a mounted Venger, Presto conjures a horn which when honked startles his nightmare. After the battle Eric sits on the discarded horn and is also startled by the honk.

In an attempt to conjure some money from his hat to pay for a guide Presto produces a chicken which he discards, embarrassed by his failure.

In a second attempt to conjure some money from his hat to pay for a guide Presto produces a fire-breathing dragon which he shoves hastily back inside.

Having recharged his depleted totem in the Skull of Power, Presto test runs his hat by conjuring a bunch of four carrots that are gratefully eaten by Uni.

Menaced by dire wolves belonging to the wizard Kelek, Presto conjures a joint of ham to pacify them.

Presto attempts to teleport Venger to him but instead teleports himself to Venger inside one of his castles.

INCANTATION: "Abracadonny, hey nonny, nonny!"

Presto attempts to conjure the missing alicorns back onto the unicorns heads but the spell goes wrong and the majestic creatures have to suffer the indignity of ending up with honking toy horns instead.

INCANTATION: "Abracamere, all the horns appear!"

Attempting to replace the alicorns again and being reminded that Dungeon Master said the fate of one unicorn is shared by all, Presto successfully conjures Uni's horn back on her head and all the other alicorns return to their unicorn owners too.

INCANTATION: "Abracadoony, give the horn back to Uni!"

Frustrated with the Dungeon Master's riddles, Eric whips out a notepad and pencil and begins transcribing their mentor's words. Presumably this is one of Presto's prior conjurations.

Attacked by bullywugs, Eric suggests Presto pull an army tank out of his hat. Giant flies emerge instead which turn out to be a bullywug delicacy, allowing the heroes to escape while the swamp monsters are busy plucking the flies out of the air with their tongues.

INCANTATION: "Keruthen, zerbuthen, here goes nothing!"

Hank asks Presto if he can whip up a spell to stop an earth elemental but he conjures a stop sign instead.

INCANTATION: "Abracum, zabracum!"

A puff of useless black smoke is conjured when Presto attempts to free a crystal encased Dungeon Master.

INCANTATION: "Ohmannus, camere, I hope this spell gets us out of here!"

When Eric is metamorphosed into a bogbeast Presto tries to reverse the spell but fails, conjuring a frock and wig onto the exasperated cavalier.

INCANTATION: "Lymphs of lizard, ear of elf, please make Eric look like himself!"

A further conjuration to change Eric back from a bogbeast into his normal cavalier self produces a bubbling pink potion that when drunk metamorphoses Eric again but this time into a dragonish creature, still in drag, that sneezes flame.

INCANTATION: "Abracazim, abracado, make me a potion that will know what to do."

A final spell results in a zap that reverses the previous two spells, metamorphosing Eric back into a bogbeast in cavalier armour.

Presto conjures a Frisbee in a confrontation with Kawamung but thinking it useless he throws it away. The Frisbee jams in the nearby waterwheel mechanism, destroying the dam and restoring the flow of the River That Rains Upside Down.

INCANTATION: "Hocus pocus, abracadabra, etcetera, etcetera!"

Presto tries to make an orc vanish by suggesting in his incantation that the monster goes on a trip but the spell translates this as a vacation, resulting in the orc dressed in a flowered Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts with his sword transformed into a ukulele.

INCANTATION: "Kabibble, kazip, send that orc on a trip!"

Harassed by a shambling mound Presto conjures a spray gun full of weed killer.

Menaced by a stone golem Presto conjures a cannon but one without cannonballs. Later, Bobby makes use of the cannon by batting it into the other stone golem, causing it to shatter.

Presto attempts to conjure a cannonball for his previously conjured cannon but produces a handful of ball-bearings instead. Discarding them on the floor they prove just as useful as an armed canon as the pursuing stone golem slips on them and shatters when it hits the ground.

Attacked by lizard men, Presto attempts to turn his hat into a cannon but a less conventional ammunition is fired from it in the form of petals.

INCANTATION: "Abraca-dannon, turn my hat into a cannon!"

Presto conjures a working hosepipe to combat a two-headed lava dragon.

INCANTATION: "Abracadaber... uh... Hocus, po... er... Aw, what's the use... I never get what I want, anyway!"

In a confrontation with Dekkion, Presto tries to teleport the skeleton warrior away but instead conjures a corded telephone.

INCANTATION: "Alakazow... abracadation... I cast you away by teleportation!"

Inspired by stage magician Harry August Jansen's catchphrase, Sim Sala Bim, Presto bases one of his incantations on it in an attempt to dissolve a wall in the Lost Tower of the Celestial Knights that Hank is trapped behind. Unfortunately he conjures a cloud of pink smoke that teleports both him and Eric into the banshees' woodland.

INCANTATION: "Sim, sim, salla..."

Presto miraculously conjures a presumably unmanned United States Navy aircraft carrier as a barrier against the advancing banshees. This is the largest thing he has ever conjured.

INCANTATION: "Abraca-davy, United States Navy!"

When Eric gets sprayed by a feathered skunk Presto conjures something to combat the smell and produces a gas mask which the cavalier quickly claims for himself.

INCANTATION: "Abracadabra, as quick as a wink, conjure me something to fight Eric's stink!"

Menaced by a twilight zone wasp, Eric suggests that Presto conjure some bug spray but the magician accidentally creates a clone of the monster instead. (Possibly the glitch was caused by using the word bug twice in a row during the incantation.)

INCANTATION: "Hocus pocus, Alacastoff, give me some stuff to make that bug bug off!"

Unhappy with using his shield as an umbrella during a downpour, Eric asks Presto to conjure something to help keep him dry. Presto conjures something that looks like a closed umbrella but when the cavalier tries to open it it turns out to be a long-tailed bat, that spreads its wings and flies away equally startled.

INCANTATION: "Alacawhatsis, let's give it a try... please give me something to help us stay dry!"

When the heroes are overpowered by Cyclopes Presto manages to save them by conjuring away the creatures, leaving only their robes and staffs on the ground that they later use as a disguise.

INCANTATION: "Cloaks and weapons drop to the ground, put Venger's troopers in the lost and found!"

During battle with Venger and his lizard men, Presto tries to conjure a twenty-tonne tank but produces a toy one instead that rolls away across the floor. Later Venger stamps on it and the toy explodes.

INCANTATION: "Magic hat, I'm gonna be frank, what we need now is a twenty-ton tank!"

Battling lizard men and bullywugs, Presto conjures a floating door that opens up in front of a lizard man and sends him tumbling through to somewhere else. Then the door slams shut and rolls up like a roller-blind before disappearing altogether.

Presto conjures dozens of mousetraps that fly through the air and snap themselves onto the tail of the monster that Venger had metamorphosed into.

Overpowered by orcs, Presto conjures a whirlwind that accidentally teleports his friends into a giant vivarium, leaving him alone with Uni.

INCANTATION: "Hocus delirium, pocus inferium, spell me a spell to get me out of here-ium!"

Presto conjures a birdcage around the slime beast called Willy.

INCANTATION: "Alacashim, zalakasham, give me a spell to get them out of their jam!"

Presto casts a spell that shrinks the petrified beanstalk and pursuing giant into nothing.

INCANTATION: "I'll fiddle with my twiddle and diddle with the middle and make a magic riddle that will turn the giant little!"

Trekking through a desert, Eric refers to an earlier instance when Presto tried to conjure some water but ended up with a goldfish bowl complete with goldfish instead.

Chased by orcs as the heroes flee towards Tardos Keep, Presto conjures some marbles and throws them on the steps which causes the pursuers to loose their footing and fall.

INCANTATION: "Abracadabra, and all those other magic words!"

Presto conjures an electric fan when the heroes are being chased by giant wasps. Surprisingly, the draft it produces is strong enough to blow the insects away.

Presto conjures a flying carpet but before the heroes can board it the floating carpet sprouts wings and flies off without them.

Having recklessly jumped off of the back of a roc after it was being pursued by a fire-breathing red dragon, Presto conjures a parachute for him and his plummeting friends.

INCANTATION: "Hocus pocus, alakazat, do something quick before we go splat!"

Sheltering in the windy Moon Forest at night, Presto conjures an electric blanket for him and Eric to share, although there is no power socket for the plug.

INCANTATION: "From the valleys of Krelm to the hills of Zorm conjure me something to keep us warm!"

Presto attempts a conjuration to repel the orcs who are invading the Cloud Bear colony in their tanks but the hat just expands in size with a sneezing sound. Later Diana has the idea of using the expanded hat as a hot air balloon. Dungeon Master returns the hat to its normal size afterwards.

INCANTATION: "Just blow those bums away."

While being attacked by a swamp squid in the malodorous Swamp Of Darkness, Presto conjures a snowstorm of perfumed petals.

INCANTATION: "Abraca... yuch! Dabraca... phew! Get rid of that monster... and take the stink away, too."

Presto conjures a torrent of water in an attempt to extinguish the illusory flames of a burning building.

INCANTATION: "Bring a spell to quench the fire and prove to these folks that I'm no liar."

Fighting skeletons in the Dragon's Graveyard, Presto casts a spell that sends a crimson beam arcing into one of his skeletal opponents and causing it to fall apart, defeated.

In a confrontation with Venger, Presto conjures a magical globe and hurls it at him. The globe splits into two and pins Venger to a rock by the wrists, rendering him helpless.

Presto conjures a grooming kit consisting of an electric razor, flannel and brush for an unkempt Kosar.

(These were conjured off-screen so it is not known whether there was an incantation involved.)

Attacked by the doombat-mounted Toard guards, Presto conjures a mirror to reflect the lasers from their lances.

INCANTATION: "Uh... Abra-kazam... I mean Alacadabra... Oh, just gimme something! Anything!"

In an attempt to find the city of Torad, Presto conjures a road map of Pittsburgh.

Presto conjures a six-foot tall rabbit to distract guards in the city of Torad.

(This was conjured off-screen so it is not known whether there was an incantation involved.)

Evading the Nameless One, Presto conjures a set of highway safety flares, a battery powered emergency radio without batteries and a copy of Ranger Fred's Guide To Survival In The Amazon. Among the other discarded conjurations can be seen a vacuum cleaner, megaphone, telephone and Thermos flask in the hope of finding something to aid their escape.

(These were conjured off-screen so it is not known whether there was an incantation involved.)

Trapped by a rockfall in the Hills Of Never, Presto conjures seven sticks of dynamite that detonate even without a detonator.

INCANTATION: "Abracadabra and alacazam! Give me something to get us out of this jam!"

Presto conjures a picnic hamper to share with Josef Meuller. When the picnic is finished Presto shoves it all back in his hat and makes it disappear.

(These were conjured off-screen so it is not known whether there was an incantation involved.)

When the heroes are trapped in a forest fire, Presto conjures a canister of whipped cream instead of a fire extinguisher. The word FIRE can be seen printed on the side.

INCANTATION: "Abracadabra, hocus de pocus. Save us quick before we go up in smokus!"

Presto conjures an apple to feed to the catoblepi.

Presto conjures a bunch of seven bananas to feed to the catoblepi when they seem disinterested in the apple.

Presto attempts to cast a spell against the purple fog of the Darkling but fails.

INCANTATION: "Alalca-whatsit, Alacazam... Give me something to make this fog... scram?"

Presto turns his hat into a vacuum cleaner that sucks up the Darkling's purple fog.

INCANTATION: "One for the money, two for the show. Now is the time to make this fog go."

Presto conjures a colony of termites that eat the wooden door to King Varin's prison.

INCANTATION: "Hat of mine please give ear. Make this door disappear."

Presto levitates a stone tied to a length of string that he has lowered inside his hat. This spell was taught to him by Amber the fairie dragon.

INCANTATION: "Abra-ca-dabra and dabra-ca-zy, by the power of dragons, make this rock fly?"

Presto levitates King Varin and his army, stating that the spell will wear of in a few hours.

INCANTATION: "If rocks can rise, just like the moon, then make this king and his soldiers become balloons."

After failing to enter a portal home in the Castle of Clouds the heroes are seen sitting around with Presto cutting Eric's hair with a pair of scissors and comb and Bobby grooming Uni's mane with a brush. Possibly these were Presto's off-screen conjurations.

Eric produces a wad of dollar bills but whether this was from one of Presto's conjurations or money he had from the theme park that was unaffected by his transformation into an armoured cavalier is unknown. In the Master Thief Of Baal-Dur premise it mentions that Eric has a pair of Argyll socks, so some of the heroes' contemporary items may have survived the transition into the Realm.

Venger resurrects (Citadel Of Shadow)

2011-12-06T01:43:00.001Z

Venger has had his body destroyed six times in the cartoon but has somehow managed to resurrect himself, usually with a phantom version of himself rising from his apparent demise.

Venger and his sister, Karena, wage a spectacular battle against each other inside the Citadel Of Shadow but the besieged citadel cannot withstand their warfare and collapses. Karena crawls from the ruins relatively unharmed but Venger's body seems to have perished as a shadowy figure flees from the ruins and merges with a cloud, becoming blackened like a storm cloud.

Eric's shield goof (2)

2011-12-04T04:44:00.001Z

In a scene when Eric is talking to Hank and Diana in the tree house colony of the Cloud Bears, the eagle's head on his shield is looking to the right instead of to the left.

shield of the cavalier

2011-12-03T23:23:00.009Z

One of the magical totems given to the heroes by the Dungeon Master is a shield, and this is received by Eric who inherits the role of cavalier.

The shield is golden in colour and bears the motif of a white eagle's head within a black circle, looking to the left. Possibly the head is that of a griffin.

The shield has a forcefield that can absorb or deflect attacks. Normally the forcefield is contracted around the shield itself with Eric crouched behind it, but it can be expanded as a dome to protect other people. The forcefield has a glowing energy signature.

The shield can also deflect spells. When Venger fired a mystic bolt at Eric in the Valley of the Beholder the spell bounced back at him and trapped both him and his nightmare mount in an energy bubble.

There is a goof in The Box episode where the eagle on the shield is looking to the right instead of the left when the heroes return to the amusement park. The goof occurs again during a scene in The Traitor episode.

The original concept for the shield had it levitate too but in an independent manner and usually contrary to what Eric wanted, such as dragging him into battle. Although this idea was rejected and the shield was downgraded to just having a force field, although two examples of its levitational powers exist in the premises. In the Day Of The Dragons premise Eric levitates his shield piled up with treasure out towards Tiamat to pacify her and in Yugol And The Curse Of Stone the shield is used as a substitute flying carpet for Eric and Bobby.

Eric's shield goof (1)

2011-12-03T22:17:00.006Z

When the heroes return to the amusement park in the Box episode and find that their totems no longer work there, the eagle head on Eric's shield is looking to the right instead of to the left.

doll

2011-12-03T01:27:00.000Z

A rag doll with a bell attached to its girdle belonged to Ayesha but was left behind when she was abducted by the Nightwalker. Her father Ramoud gave it to Sheila as a present claiming it would hold her safe in her dreams. When Ayesha is reunited with her father she insists that Sheila keeps the doll.

Venger resurrects (Crystal of Chronos)

2011-12-02T22:48:00.001Z

Venger has had his body destroyed six times in the cartoon but has somehow managed to resurrect himself, usually with a phantom version of himself rising from his apparent demise.

When Josef Meuller crashes the Starfire One-Niner jet into the Crystal of Chronos the resulting explosion engulfs a nightmare-mounted Venger with both him and his horse appearing to be destroyed, dissolving into translucent fragments in the billowing smoke. Venger does not depart the destruction in spirit form but reappears in the next episode, Odyssey Of The Twelfth Talisman, so has managed to resurrect himself. Possibly he resurrected his nightmare steed too, although it makes no further appearances in the series so this could have been its demise.

BCI Eclipse 5 disc DVD box set (diptych)

2011-12-01T01:32:00.002Z

This diptych version is the same as the triptych version except the DVD tray folds out into two panel instead of three and has different artwork inside showing the Forbidden Tower on the left and the illusory Skull Mountain on the right. Also as there is no third panel the outer cover does not have the sketches of Venger.

bow of the ranger

2011-11-30T00:00:00.007Z

One of the magical totems given to the heroes by the Dungeon Master is a bow, and this is received by Hank who inherits the role of ranger.

The bow is unstrung but when plucked a string and arrow materialise, both composed from yellow energy. The arrow can be fired to perform various stunts but Hank sometimes just holds one notched to serve as a torch. Hank has notched two arrows at the same time before.

The energy that the arrow is composed of is unknown but when fired at a shambling mound it caused the monster to grow. (Shambling mounds are invigorated when electrified.) Hank has fired an arrow that is powerful enough to blow up a waterfall's cliff face. One of his arrows also destroyed the legendary Circle of Power, although the fragility of that artefact is unknown.

A common trick that Hank employs is to fire arrows that wrap around the target like a hoop, leaving them bound and helpless. He has used this on Venger, bullywugs, a yeti, giant wasps, a twilight zone wasp, a dragon turtle, a phantom stalker, the demodragon and Tiamat but with the last four managing to break free.

The arrows can produce heat too as Hank fired one into a glacier to melt a tunnel. An arrow fired earlier also cleaved the glacier neatly in two, although the arrow may have just triggered the portal hidden inside the ice to reveal itself rather than providing the necessary force to split and part the glacier. Another heated arrow was fired to weld the ankles of an iron-golem together.

Hank fired an arrow into Bobby's club to sweep him away from Tiamat and pins the club to a nearby rock. A similar stunt is done to rescue Bobby and Uni from the iron golem by knocking them from its grasp and having the two straddling the arrow like a flying broomstick.

Hank fired an arrow as a signal flare but also as a flare to dazzle the snail people and as fireworks to frighten some bullywugs.

When escaping from king Varin's army Hank fired two arrows down a tunnel that exploded and solidified into a glassy pane to block the advancing soldiers. Unfortunately the soldiers were able to shatter the pane easily as if it was glass.

When in the desert above the bogbeast's valley the bow twitched like a divining rod as if sensing the River That Rains Upside Down. When Hank fired an arrow into the sky it plummets back down, boring through the cavern ceiling of the subterranean valley to where the river is.

When Eric is plummeting to the ground after jumping off a roc Hank double notches his bow and fired eight arrows into the ground below. The arrows then embed circularly with their nocks bending inwards and joining to form a trampoline for the cavalier to land on.

Hank fired an arrow across a chasm to form a bridge that can support him and the other heroes as they fled from Venger.

When Presto is hanging off of a cliff Hank fired two arrows that embedded and solidified below each of the magician's feet to act as supporting steps. Something similar is mentioned in the Series Bible with arrows being shot diagonally into a wall to provide an impromptu staircase.

Hank has also used arrows to form a rope and lasso. He has done this once in the Maze Of Darkness and twice in the twilight zone to grapple onto a cage and again later to haul himself up some broken stairs.

The Series Bible also mentions that an arrow can boomerang back to Hank, after scooping its target up.

cloak of the thief

2011-11-29T00:00:00.005Z

One of the magical totems given to the heroes by the Dungeon Master is a cloak, and this is received by Sheila who inherits the role of thief.

The violet cloak is cowled and when the hood is drawn up it renders the wearer invisible indefinitely. If the hood is lowered whether voluntarily or involuntarily then the wearer becomes visible again.

When Sheila was knocked over in the Dragon's Graveyard by a whirlwind summoned by a skeleton wielding a magical morningstar her hood was blown off and she became visible again.

The cloak was ripped by Uggar when he grabbed Sheila but was magically repaired by the Dungeon Master after his immersion in the Heart of Dawn. The cloak was depleted of magic at the time and may have ripped so easily because of this or it may have the normal durability of the fabric it is made from.

Whenever he hood is raised a sound effect can be heard that is the same sound effect when the Dungeon Master first conjured the totems into the heroes' possession.

The original concept for the cloak also allowed Sheila to become intangible as well as invisible and walk through some walls. Although it was never specified which walls she could walk through and which walls she could not and could have depended on what the wall was built from or its thickness. However, this idea was rejected and the cloak was downgraded to just a cloak of invisibility instead.

Quest For The Dungeonmaster

2011-11-27T14:00:00.011Z

In 1984 TSR produced a board game called Quest For The Dungeonmaster in which the players had to rescue the Dungeon Master from Warduke. (The game was inspired by the In Search Of The Dungeon Master episode episode where Warduke captures Dungeon Master but the similarities end there.) Instead of dice numbered cards are used to replicate dice rolls. The game is for 2 to 6 players, aged six and upwards.

One notable mistake is that Dungeon Master is spelt as Dungeonmaster in the game's title and also as DungeonMaster on the playing cards. Other mistakes are that bullywug is spelt as bullywog and Presto's card describes him as a magic-user instead of magician.

The box cover showing the heroes gathered round a tree stump playing the game with Uni and Venger as onlookers. Hidden in the surrounding forest are Strongheart and Warduke.

The box's underside showing an example of game play with the board set up with playing cards and assembled character cards.

The illustrated game board. The illustrations depict Presto climbing up a cliff using a rope (reminiscent of the opening titles where he conjures noosed ropes to escape Tiamat), the monster from cell 13, Bobby the barbarian thumping the ground with his club, Tiamat the dragon, Eric shielding himself from one of Venger's fiery blasts, a blue-cloaked Sheila, Diana, Hank, Kelek and one of his dire wolves, Uni severing a thread from which Lolth dangles (reminiscent of the scene in the Hall Of Bones episode), Warduke and two bullywugs and the Dungeon Master.

The playing cards with a proof of purchase ticket and two blank cards presumably to be filled in to replace lost ones. The reverse of the playing cards feature the Dungeon Master.

There are 56 cards (with their values or asterisk in brackets) comprising of:

x4 Hank the ranger cards (7).
x6 Eric the cavalier cards (6).
x7 Diana the acrobat cards (5).
x7 Presto the magician cards (4).
x7 Sheila the thief cards (3).
x6 Bobby the barbarian cards (2).
x4 Uni the unicorn cards (1).
x5 Venger cards (*).
x3 Tiamat cards (*).
x2 DungeonMaster cards (*).
x2 bullywog cards (*).
x2 blank cards.
x1 proof of purchase card.

The six character cards. These are to be punched out, folded in half and inserted into the plastic stands show below.

The instructions are printed on the inside of the box's base. Below is a transcript of the rules.

A fantasy adventure game for 2 to 6 players, ages 6 and up.

OBJECT OF THE GAME

Our adventurers are searching for the Dungeonmaster to free him from WARDUKE Evil Fighter. Be the first player to reach the Dungeonmaster and win the game!

CONTENTS

1 game board, 6 playing pieces, 54 cards.

LOOK AT THE PLAYING PIECES: Carefully punch the characters out of the cardboard sheet and bend in half. Insert each character into a plastic stand.

LOOK AT THE CARDS: Carefully punch out all the cards and collect them into a pile. Save the Proof of Purchase card and set it aside.

HOW TO SET UP THE GAME

Each player chooses a playing piece and places it on the board in the corner marked START. Shuffle all the cards and deal three face-down to each player. Place the rest of the cards face-down in the box marked DRAW PILE in the middle of the game board. Do not show your cards to any other player.

HOW TO PLAY THE GAME

Choose one player to go first. The next player is always the player to the left.

HOW TO TAKE A TURN

1) Take a card from the top of the DRAW PILE and add it to the cards in your hand.

2) Put one of your cards face-up on the DISCARD PILE.

3) Do what the card says or move your playing piece forward the number of spaces on the card.

HOW TO USE THE CARDS

NUMBER CARDS: These show you how many spaces to move forward. You cannot move backward with a NUMBER CARD. For example, if you choose to play a PRESTO card, you move forward 4 spaces.

STAR * CARDS: These let you move yourself or another player forward or backward. A TIAMAT card lets you trade all your cards with another player.

FREE TURN: If you land on a space already taken by another player, you get a free turn! (See HOW TO TAKE A TURN.) You might get more than one free turn in a row. As soon as you land on an empty space, your turn is over. You do not get a free turn if somebody else moves you to someone else's space. Then you must move to the next empty space in front of him.

SHORT CUTS: Shortcuts are the coloured arrows on the game board. To take a shortcut you must play a card that has the same colour as the shortcut arrow and the same character that is near the arrow on the board.

1) If at the start of your turn you are already on a shortcut, you may hop across the shortcut by playing the NUMBER CARD that is the same colour as the shortcut arrow. Now your turn is over. You do not get to move the number of spaces on the card.

2) If you land on a shortcut by playing the NUMBER CARD that is the colour of the shortcut arrow, you get to hop across the shortcut right away. You do not have to play any more cards or wait until the next turn. Your turn is now over unless you landed on another player's space. Then you get another turn!

HOW TO WIN: The first player to reach the space marked END by the Dungeonmaster wins the game! You do not need to reach the space by the exact count. Now you can rescue the Dungeonmaster!

Venger resurrects (heart stones)

2011-11-22T00:00:00.005Z

Venger has had his body destroyed six times in the cartoon but has somehow managed to resurrect himself, usually with a phantom version of himself rising from his apparent demise.

When Hank discovers that Venger is vulnerable to the heart stones he returns with the Cloud Bears who throw the crimson gems at him. Mortified by their presence, Venger is transformed into the same crystalline form as the gems before shattering and escaping his castle in a stream of these crimson shards, fleeing into the night sky.

Venger resurrects (Darkhaven)

2011-11-21T00:00:00.004Z

Venger has had his body destroyed six times in the cartoon but has somehow managed to resurrect himself, usually with a phantom version of himself rising from his apparent demise.

When the city of Darkhaven collapses with Venger trapped inside it a gigantic, phantom version of himself rises from the ruins and taunts the heroes briefly with his looming image before fading away.

Venger resurrects (Kelek's castle)

2011-11-20T00:00:00.004Z

Venger has had his body destroyed six times in the cartoon but has somehow managed to resurrect himself, usually with a phantom version of himself rising from his apparent demise.

Venger and Kelek duel inside the latter's castle but when Venger imprisons Kelek the castle collapses, sinking back into the ground from which it rose from. Outside the observing heroes speculate whether Venger perished but the ground where the castle once stood erupts open and smoke pours into the sky, assuming the form of Venger, before swirling away.

Venger resurrects (Hall of Bones)

2011-11-19T00:00:00.003Z

Venger has had his body destroyed six times in the cartoon but has somehow managed to resurrect himself, usually with a phantom version of himself rising from his apparent demise.

When Venger battles the spirit warriors in the Hall of Bones the sepulchre is destroyed in a mushroom cloud. The observing heroes speculate whether Venger has perished or not but the answer comes when his towering bat-winged image rises from the destruction before vanishing.

Aknar

2011-07-31T18:12:00.001+01:00

The kingdom of Aknar is home to the Nablobs. Nothing much is known about Aknar apart from the fact that it is bordered by low, craggy mountains and has a city with a palace.

Folderol is the current king of Aknar.

Island of the Kinging Tree

2011-07-30T09:48:00.001+01:00

This island is where the Kinging Tree grows and is located somewhere inside an inland sea. Its exact location seems to be secret but the Sea King had a map to it and pirates also know how to sail to it.

Folderol

2011-07-29T18:09:00.005+01:00

The Nablob known as Folderol is a messenger from the kingdom of Aknar who is on a mission to find the new king. He has been given a scroll with a riddle on it by the Dungeon Master that when decoded tells him who should accompany him on his quest, and when Hank decodes the riddle he finds that it is himself. Folderol carries with him the Glow of Aknar to give to the rightful monarch unaware that he is to be the new king.

Folderol comes across as irreverent and prone to singing, dancing and acrobatics but is kind and makes unexpectedly wise decisions. (The word folderol means trivial or nonsensical fuss.)

totems

2011-07-28T18:23:00.053+01:00

When the heroes first arrive in the Realm the Dungeon Master conjures magical totems into their possession. Presto is given a hat out of which he can conjure objects and cast spells, Eric is given an indestructible shield blessed with a forcefield, Sheila is given a cloak that renders her invisible when the hood is raised, Diana is given javelin that grows and shrinks, Bobby is given a club that wreaks tremendous havoc and Hank is given a bow that fires versatile arrows composed of energy. Invariably these totems are dubbed as weapons by the Dungeon Master, Venger and the heroes but only the bow and club and perhaps the shield and javelin could be called weapons.

The totems come from the Dragon's Graveyard but it is not explained why Dungeon Master owns them. Tiamat recognises the totems but is not bothered that the heroes have them so theft can perhaps be discounted. It is possible that the Dungeon Master took them without Tiamat's permission but as the graveyard is littered with similar discarded totems she considers them worthless and not worth challenging their ownership. In the graveyard dragonish skeletons can be seen clutching similar totems.

Oddly, Tiamat is not bothered that the relatively inexperienced heroes have these six totems despite Venger dedicating much time and energy into confiscating them because he claims he can defeat and enslave her with their combined might. Possibly he has miscalculated their value and their pooled magic is insufficient to rival her. She even invites Venger to the Dragon's Graveyard to claim the six totems knowing that the heroes are planning to kill him, then observes the ensuing battle without interference. If Venger's belief in the totems' power is correct then this is a very risky gambit for her to take.

Another theory on why Tiamat does not seem to care about the heroes having the totems is that their enchantments were ebbing and about to become depleted so would pose no risk to her if Venger claimed them. In the Hall Of Bones episode the totems become powerless and have to be recharged by the Skull of Power. Bobby claims that the totems will remain recharged for another three hundred years but it is not stated where he got that figure from and could have just invented it.

Venger does manage to claim the six totems on one occasion and holding them in his hand uses their combined energy to fire a mystic bolt at Tiamat but unbeknownst to him the totems are depleted and the bolt leaves the dragon relatively unharmed. Frustrated, he discards the totems as worthless.

The totems become depleted again when the Dungeon Master absorbs their magic to help battle the Nameless One before he teleports himself and the heroes into the Underworld as means of escape. The totems are then later recharged by the Dungeon Master when he submerges himself in the mystical pool known as the Heart of Dawn. Not only does it recharge the totems but it also repairs the cloak that got ripped up and the club that got broken.

The totems function much more powerfully in the Dragon's Graveyard as this is where they originated but do not function on Earth. (In the original script for The Box episode the totems did function on Earth.)

When the demodragon grabs the heroes' totems their combined magic disrupts the spell Venger used to enslave the monster.

When quizzed by the heroes about how to get to the Dragon's Graveyard the Dungeon Master replies that they carry the way with them and that it should begin with Hank the ranger. Trapped in a cave they guess that he meant their totems and Hank fires an energy arrow that ricochets around and is caught in Presto's hat. A pink globe of energy floats out and when Eric deflects it with his shield it turns yellow and grows, floating towards Diana who also deflects it with her javelin causing the globe to turn green and grow further. Wondering what to do, Sheila throws her cloak over it and again it expands; this time turning purple. Bobby bats the approaching globe away thinking it is threatening Uni and the energy sphere explodes, teleporting them all to the Dragon's Graveyard.

In the Servant Of Evil episode a quintet of lizard men were employed by Venger to use the heroes' five stolen totems against them. Armed with the bow, javelin, shield, cloak and hat the monsters fought the children with expertise, with Presto bemoaning that he was never as good as conjuring things from his hat as his lizard man counterpart was who summoned a trained raven.

banshees' woodland

2011-07-28T04:59:00.001+01:00

When one of Presto's spells is sabotaged by the Lost Tower of the Celestial Knights he and Eric find themselves accidentally teleported into a misty woodland with a muddy river running through it.

The woodland is home to a sheet phantom that smothers Eric and metamorphoses him into a comical nerd plus a group of banshees that snatch Presto's glasses before cruelly mocking the duo.

This is the tower's bidding as Eric being an object of ridicule and Presto being blind are their biggest fears. The boys could have been teleported outside the tower to somewhere on the Realm where their fears would happen but another explanation could be that they were teleported somewhere else inside the dimensionally massive tower and the whole woodland, banshees and sheet phantom was a conjured scenario tailored to exploit their fears.

The woodland now has a United States Navy aircraft carrier in it that Presto managed to conjure.

Castle Venger

2011-07-27T18:22:00.001+01:00

The eponymous Castle Venger is located in an unnamed kingdom that is suffering under Venger's tyranny. The castle differs from his usual base of operations in that it does not have foreboding architecture and looks like a classic - almost fairytale - castle. Possibly Venger has captured an established castle so that he can control the surrounding kingdom with his sorcery and army of monsters.

Glow of Aknar

2011-07-27T18:06:00.001+01:00

The Glow of Aknar is a golden medallion that the king of Aknar wears instead of the traditional crown. Folderol explains that crowns are a dime a dozen among kings and that the Nablobs like to be different.

The medallion glows when there is a king enthroned in Aknar but stops glowing when a new king needs to be found. The new king has to be a Nablob and if the medallion is given to the wrong Nablob or the right Nablob refuses the medallion then Aknar will be without a king for another three hundred years.

The medallion seems to protect Aknar with sorcery as when it no longer glows the kingdom is weak and prone to attack but when it is glowing the rightful owner seems to be able to repel threats, as both shadow demon and Venger do not challenge Folderol when he is wearing the Glow of Aknar.

titan

2011-07-26T13:32:00.005+01:00

An imposing but helpful titan who can control clouds lives at the summit of Titan Mountain in a white marble temple and declares the mountain to be his. The titan has a silver chalice, a golden wand and a crystal ball which he uses together for divination. By drinking a potion from the chalice and then waving the wand over the crystal ball he is able to divine that Folderol is the new king of Aknar by staring into the glassy orb.

ki-rin

2011-07-25T23:31:00.001+01:00

A ki-rin is encountered by Presto and Eric where it is being held captive by Venger in the Realm of Light. The ki-rin is described as being a golden-pinkish goat with violet eyes and a spiral horn growing from its forehead, like that of unicorn. It can speak and do magic with two of its spells including summoning a banquet and wind walk, which involves transforming itself and passengers into mist to transport them from place to place.

Nablobs

2011-07-25T17:23:00.006+01:00

The Nablobs are a race of intelligent, blue-furred monkeys from the kingdom of Aknar. They cry blue tears.

Folderol is a Nablob.

Elkhorn the dwarf

2011-07-25T12:30:00.002+01:00

Elkhorn is a dwarf warrior who accompanies the heroes along with Strongheart, Ringlerun and Mercion in the View-Master 3D adventure; Castle Venger.

Kinging Tree

2011-07-24T16:57:00.005+01:00

The Kinging Tree is a prophetic tree with leaves of pure gold. If a person climbs into the canopy then the leaves will change colour in the sunlight and show an image of the rightful king of their land. It is not known whether the Kinging Tree reveals queens too or just kings. The tree is located on an island somewhere in an inland sea, predictably named the Island of the Kinging Tree.

Folderol climbs the tree with Hank to discover that he is the new king of Aknar.

Mercion

2011-07-24T13:03:00.003+01:00

Mercion is a female cleric who accompanies the heroes along with Strongheart, Ringlerun and Elkhorn in the View-Master 3D adventure; Castle Venger, where she cures Strongheart from the effects of Venger's withering spell.

Titan Mountain

2011-07-23T16:39:00.003+01:00

A great, grey mountain whose top is hidden among clouds. It has a wide, grassy plain halfway up where a dirgeful lammasu resides. A titan also lives on the peak in a marble temple. Possibly storms giants dwell on the summit too.

Although the reader is given the option of either following the dirge to encounter the lammasu or climbing to the top to encounter the titan there is also a maze drawing where a path can be picked to see which encounter it leads to instead.

Castle Venger (View-Master 3D)

2011-07-23T15:29:00.009+01:00

This View-Master story is supposed to be about the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon and although it features Venger and Tiamat the heroes seem inconsequential with only Eric and Hank being named and with Presto, Bobby, Uni and the Dungeon Master omitted altogether. The story seems to be little more than an action figure advert for Strongheart, Elkhorn, Mercion and Ringlerun. Oddly, Venger has enslaved Tiamat the dragon.

Strongheart Good Paladin and his worthy band of adventures climb craggy rocks to the castle stronghold of the evil Venger. Strongheart urges his troops over the walls of the castle. Seeing humans advance upon his legions, Venger hisses "I will summon a special servant," and an Earth Elemental ponderously rises from the courtyard. In turn, Ringlerun Good Wizard conjures an Air Elemental. Defeated, the Earth Elemental fails; but the battling warriors, both good and evil, are overwhelmed by these elements. Elkhorn Dwarf Fighter and the remainder of the adventures storm the keep of Venger's castle. Fighting monsters all the way, they discover a secret treasure chest, and inside the chest, a glowing amulet - the source of Venger's power. The troops reunite in the courtyard where venger summons his most powerful monster, Tiamat. Breathing fire, Tiamat advances. Strongheart, wearing the amulet, poises his sword for battle. Then suddenly succumbing to Ringlerun's magic, the massive Tiamat falters. Venger and his monster flees the land leaving Strongheart's crew victorious in the castle - the kingdom at least is at peace freed from the curse of "Castle Venger!"

01: Strongheart and his crew climb to fortress.
02: Venger sends out his scout.
03: Monsters attack Strongheart's crew.
04: Venger sees Strongheart winning.
05: Castle defence is mobilized.
06: Strongheart's band attacks castle walls.
07: Venger summons Earth Elemental.

08: Air Elemental defeats Earth Elemental.
09: Elemental forces overwhelm soldiers.
10: Venger casts withering spell on Strongheart.
11: Eric tries to help Strongheart.
12: Hank the Ranger and Elkhorn break the castle door.
13: The fight continues inside the castle.
14: Mercion removes the spell from Strongheart.

15: Elkhorn discovers treasure chest.
16: The amulet wards of Umber Hulk.
17: Strongheart and Mercion rout the monsters.
18: Strongheart will use power of amulet.
19: Venger summons Tiamat.
20: Ringlerun quells Tiamat with magic.
21: Venger is foiled. Strongheart controls castle.

storm giant

2011-07-22T16:32:00.003+01:00

The titan mentions that a storm giant fell down in his treasury and caused chaos by knocking everything over so that all his treasure is now mixed up. No reason is given for why a storm giant was in the titan's treasury or why he fell over. Possibly storm giants live on Titan Mountain too.

BBC1 broadcast dates

2011-07-22T09:26:00.003+01:00

Season 1 and Season 2 of the cartoon was originally broadcast in the UK on the BBC1 channel between 1984 and 1985 with repeats shown in 1986. Below are the specific broadcast dates and times for each episode.

Season 1

The Night Of No Tomorrow (September 10th 1984 @ 4.30PM)

The Eye Of The Beholder (September 17th 1984 @4.30PM)

The Hall Of Bones (September 24th 1984 @4.30PM)

Valley of The Unicorns (October 1st 1984 @4.30PM)

In Search Of The Dungeon Master (October 8th 1984 @4.30PM)

Beauty And The Bogbeast (October 15th 1984 @4.30PM)

Prison Without Walls (October 22nd 1984 @4.30PM)

Servant Of Evil (October 29th 1984 @4.30PM)

Quest of The Skeleton Warrior (November 5th 1984 @4.30PM)

The Garden Of Zinn (November 12th 1984 @4.35PM)

The Box (November 19th 1984 @4.35PM)

The Lost Children (November 26th 1984 @4.35PM)

P.R.E.S.T.O Spells Disaster (December 3rd 1984 @4.35PM)

Season 2

The Girl Who Dreamed Tomorrow (April 1st 1985 @ 4.35PM)

The Treasure Of Tardos (April 15th 1985 @4.35PM)

City At The Edge Of Midnight (April 22nd 1985 @4.35PM)

The Traitor (April 29th 1985 @4.35PM)

Day Of The Dungeon Master (May 13th 1985 @4.35PM)

The Last Illusion (May 20th 1985 @4.30PM)

The Dragon's Graveyard (June 3rd 1985 @4.35PM)

Child Of The Stargazer (June 10th 1985 @4.30PM)

Repeats

The Lost Children (September 11th 1986 @4.35PM)

P-R-E-S-T-O Spells Disaster (September 18th 1985 @4.30PM)

The Treasure Of Tardos (October 2nd 1986 @4.30PM)

City At The Edge Of Midnight (October 9th 1986 @4.30PM)

The Traitor (October 16th 1986 @4.30PM)

Day Of The Dungeon Master (October 23rd 1986 @4.30PM)

The Last Illusion (October 30th 1986 @4.30PM)

The Dragon's Graveyard (November 6th 1986 @4.35PM)

Child Of The Stargazer (November 13th 1986 @4.35PM)

Below are scans from the Radio Times showing the débuts of Seasons 1 and 2.

Nathan the healer

2011-07-21T16:11:00.001+01:00

Nathan is a diminutive, old man with mistletoe sprigs stuck in his white beard who lives in a cave on the other side of a forest. He is a healer and cures sick and wounded fauna magically by raising his arms and singing while the animal patient wears a hat. He can also attempt to heal people if they pretend to be an animal, and Hank is healed by him by acting like a bear and crawling around on all fours while growling.

Deena

2011-07-20T16:09:00.003+01:00

Deena is a mermaid who is described as a beautiful girl with long, green hair and whose cheeks blush pale green instead of red. She lives in an inland sea and is the daughter of the Sea King. She has two pets; a water snake named Icabod and a giant sea turtle named Seashell.

Icabod

2011-07-19T16:02:00.001+01:00

Icabod is the name of Deena the mermaid's pet water snake.

Sea King

2011-07-18T15:56:00.003+01:00

The Sea King is Deena, the mermaid's father. He owned a map to the Island of the Kinging Tree but had it stolen by Venger who gave it to the wizard Malek for safekeeping. Nothing else is known about the Sea King but presumably he is a merman like his daughter Deena and his kingdom is the inland sea.

Nightwalker abductees

2011-07-18T01:50:00.000+01:00

In the city at the edge of midnight enslaved children work in the clock tower to prevent midnight chiming as this will destroy the Nightwalker. When the clock does strike midnight and the Nightwalker is defeated his spell over them is broken and they vanish, returning to their homes.

Bobby, Ayesha and Jimmy Whittaker are among the abducted children.

It is not stated where these children were abducted from. Ayesha was abducted from the Realm but Jimmy Whittaker was abducted from Earth, so the Nightwalker could be selecting victims from both these places and possibly other worlds. The Nightwalker could just be choosing children from the Realm but abducted Jimmy Whittaker because he was fated to enter the Realm on the roller-coaster ride with the others until homework obligations cancelled his trip with them to the amusement park. Although the contemporary nightwear and one of the girl's hair grips seem to suggest the abductees are from current Earth.

Seashell

2011-07-17T15:54:00.005+01:00

Seashell is the name of the giant sea turtle that Deena, the mermaid, summons to ferry Hank and Folderol to the castle of the evil wizard, Malek.

Malek

2011-07-16T15:43:00.003+01:00

Malek is an evil wizard described as being of stooped stature and with a wrinkled face who wears black robes decorated with stars and moons. He lives in a castle on an island in an inland sea. Malek keeps the map to the Island of the Kinging Tree for Venger who stole it from the Sea King, and his sorcery involves freezing spells. One such freezing spell guards the map.

Le roi sans couronne

2011-07-15T19:09:00.000+01:00

The front and back covers of Le roi sans couronne; the French version of The King Who Wore No Crown.

winged skulls

2011-07-15T15:24:00.003+01:00

Haunting a crumbling fortress is a flock of malevolent winged skulls with wispy hair whose fanged bites are poisonous.

Le labyrinthe et le dragon

2011-07-14T18:40:00.001+01:00

The front and back covers of Le labyrinthe et le dragon; the French version of The Maze And The Magic Dragon.

Folderol's scroll

2011-07-14T11:49:00.006+01:00

Dungeon Master gives Folderol an encrypted scroll that will tell him when solved which of the heroes should accompany him on his mission to find the new king of Aknar.

The reader has to find the answers to the three questions with the letters highlighted with a square being an anagram of the solution. LITTLE TEACHER is DUNGEON MASTER, AN EVIL ENEMY is VENGER and A FIRE BREATHING REPTILE is DRAGON. The highlighted letters rearranged to spell RANGER, meaning that Hank is the chosen companion.

The Spanish version is MAESTRO AMO DEL CALABOZO, ENEMIGO MALIGNO VENGER and REPTIL QUE RESPIRA FUEGO DRAGON. The highlighted letters are spell ARQUERO without the need for rearranging them.

La formule magique

2011-07-13T18:04:00.000+01:00

The front and back covers of La formule magique; the French version of The Witch's Spell Book.

Island of the Kinging Tree's map

2011-07-13T17:35:00.000+01:00

The location of the Island of the Kinging Tree seems to be relatively secret. The Sea King had a map to it before it was stolen by Venger and given to Malek for safekeeping where it was protected by a freezing spell. The map is a simple parchment scroll tied with ribbon.

Balefire

2011-07-12T19:49:00.003+01:00

The Balefire is a messenger for the Nameless One. It manifests as a burbling column of dazzling, white light that shines into the sky like a beacon. The exact nature of its message is unknown but it seems to be to summon the Nameless One. Dungeon Master specifically describes the Balefire as a messenger and not a message and it can be heard to babble as though speaking, suggesting that it is an intelligent entity of some sort.

The Balefire is kept in the padlocked Box of Balefire. The purpose for this is unknown but the padlock suggests a prison even though the padlock was rudimentary and easily broken by Eric with a stick. Possibly the Balefire entity was imprisoned to prevent it messaging the Nameless One or perhaps the relatively unsecured box is just a storage vessel for the Balefire so that it could be opened at a future time by some tyrant or cult to implement a doomsday scenario.

It is not known whether the Balefire is a unique entity or whether there are others on different worlds in similar vessels waiting to summon the Nameless One.

La magie à l'envers

2011-07-12T17:44:00.001+01:00

The front and back covers of La magie à l'envers; the French version of Backward Magic.

blue Flar goof

2011-07-11T18:29:00.000+01:00

Flar the fairie dragon turns from green to blue in one scene before reverting back to his normal colouration.

La tour des terreurs

2011-07-11T17:20:00.003+01:00

The front and back covers of La tour des terreurs; the French version of Tower Of Midnight Dreams.

blue fairie dragon

2011-07-10T18:11:00.001+01:00

This blue-coloured, male fairie dragon is alarmed to see humans when the heroes reach the fairie dragons' cave and swoops around Eric before Amber explains that they are friends. Apologising, he returns back inside to inform the others.

The character is credited in the storyboard just as a blue fairie dragon and not given a name.

Axon girl (1)

2011-07-07T10:04:00.001+01:00

This unnamed female is one of the lost children and comes from the planet Axon. Her age is unspecified but she is analagous with a teenager.

Axon girl (2)

2011-07-06T10:32:00.001+01:00

This unnamed female is one of the lost children and comes from the planet Axon. Her age is unspecified but she is analagous with a teenager.

kingdom of Venger

2011-07-05T09:51:00.000+01:00

A place mentioned on the sticker book's map and notable for its natural rock arch. The location suggests that Venger has a centralized kingdom somewhere in the Realm.

lair of bronze dragon

2011-07-04T09:58:00.000+01:00

A place mentioned on the sticker book's map and presumably the lair of a bronze dragon, possibly the one ridden by Strongheart.

wish key

2011-07-04T00:56:00.001+01:00

The wish key is a magic golden key given to Michael by the Dungeon Master. It has one of two properties depending on the book's ending. If Michael chooses to remain in the Realm then the wish key will return him to his backyard whenever he wants to leave but if the Dungeon Master has returned Michael home then he can visit the Realm again using the wish key. In the latter scenario a note explains that the wish key will only work for one trip, whether this is a return trip or whether Michael will become stranded in the Realm should he choose to return is not clarified.

Oil of Slipperiness

2011-07-02T22:28:00.001+01:00

The substance known as the Oil of Slipperiness is a strange white fluid with lubricating qualities. When squirted on shadow demons it can cause them to lose their grip and balance. Presto conjures a squirt gun from his hat full of this lubricant.

Opie the opinicus

2011-07-01T21:37:00.004+01:00

Opie is a talking opinicus who can cast spells. He has been banished to Shadows Edge by Venger for playing ringtoss with his magic hoops using Venger's horn as a peg. He is prevented from leaving or casting spells because of a magic collar that Venger has fitted around his neck that threatens to curse anybody who removes it.

Although in heraldry an opinicus describes a griffin with the forelegs of a lion instead of an eagle's, Opie is not just a hybrid of an eagle and a lion but a camel too, complete with a hump and a long neck ending with a camel's head.

crystal ball

2011-07-01T00:19:00.000+01:00

In the treasury of the Lost Tower of the Celestial Knights is a covered crystal ball. When uncovered it glows a dazzling green before showing the spectator the plight of those that the tower is terrorizing. The spectator is able to communicate to the victims through the crystal ball by talking to them. If the victims overcome their fear then they are conjured into the treasury to join the crystal ball's spectator, with any metamorphoses that the tower inflicted undone.

In the original script the crystal ball was guarded by a marilith.

Realm of Light

2011-06-30T20:16:00.004+01:00

A land of clouds situated above the Realm. It is possible to walk around this place so either the clouds are solid or they obscure solid ground such as one of the Realm's various floating islands. As with Shadows Edge magic works backwards here with Presto's spells being reversed (conjuring Christmas trees instead of Fourth of July fireworks and turning things into mice instead of cats).

quest for the Dungeonmaster advert

2011-06-30T15:46:00.003+01:00

An advert for the Quest For The Dungeonmaster board game that featured in the backs of the cartoon show book series.

Shadows Edge

2011-06-29T17:23:00.003+01:00

A strange shadowy land whose terrain consists of leafless trees, rocks and caves. It is populated by shadow demons. Venger sometimes banishes his enemies here. As with the Realm of Light magic works backwards here with Presto's spells being reversed (shrinking things instead of enlarging things) and Eric's shield allowing shadow demons to pass through it.

Shadows Edge can be exited by an undefined gate between two stone pillars. The gate takes the traveller back into the Realm to where he or she wants to be and disappears making return impossible.

Shadows Edge does not have an apostrophe.

cartoon show books advert

2011-06-29T15:34:00.004+01:00

An advert that appeared in the back of the cartoon show books advertising the series.

disappearing tree goof

2011-06-28T16:18:00.002+01:00

When Presto accidentally conjures Eric and himself out of the lost tower of the Celestial Knights and into the banshees' woodland Eric takes a few steps and bumps into a tree, but when the scene cuts to show a panorama of their location there is no nearby tree.

BCI Eclipse DVD adverts

2011-06-28T16:05:00.007+01:00

astronaut

2011-06-28T13:51:00.001+01:00

One of the people abducted into the Realm from another time and place by the Crystal of Chronos is an astronaut who appears to have an American flag on his spacesuit. He is kept in a dungeon with four other abductees; the Starfire-One-Niner pilot, a samurai, a confederate soldier and a Viking. When Josef Meuller destroys the crystal the astronaut glows and disappears along with the other abductees, presumably returning to their proper time and place.

Hank with Eric's voice goof

2011-06-27T15:01:00.000+01:00

Outside the Grotto of Darkness the Dungeon Master tells the heroes about a great magician named Quinn who may be able to return them home. "Now that's what I wanted to hear," responds Hank but with Eric's voice.

confederate soldier

2011-06-27T13:54:00.001+01:00

One of the people abducted into the Realm from another time and place by the Crystal of Chronos is a confederate soldier. He is kept in a dungeon with four other abductees; the Starfire-One-Niner pilot, a samurai, an astronaut and a Viking. When Josef Meuller destroys the crystal the confederate soldier glows and disappears along with the other abductees, presumably returning to their proper time and place.

blue javelin goof

2011-06-26T18:06:00.002+01:00

I don't like nitpicking about the colouration but Diana's javelin has a trademark greenish glow to it. However, in the scene where Venger fires mystic bolts at the heroes her javelin is neither green nor illuminated but more of an indigo colour as though it needed another trip to the Skull of Power or the Heart of Dawn.

samurai

2011-06-26T13:56:00.001+01:00

One of the people abducted into the Realm from another time and place by the Crystal of Chronos is a samurai. He is kept in a dungeon with four other abductees; the Starfire-One-Niner pilot, a confederate soldier, an astronaut and a Viking. When Josef Meuller destroys the crystal the samurai glows and disappears along with the other abductees, presumably returning to their proper time and place.

Dekkion's double sword goof

2011-06-25T21:15:00.000+01:00

An invisible Sheila pickpockets a sword from Dekkion but in the following scene the sword is still in it's scabbard even though a now visible Sheila can be seen holding it aloft. The scabbard becomes empty again in the following scenes.

Viking

2011-06-25T14:00:00.002+01:00

One of the people abducted into the Realm from another time and place by the Crystal of Chronos is a Viking. He is kept in a dungeon with four other abductees; the Starfire-One-Niner pilot, a samurai, a confederate soldier and an astronaut. He acknowledges the futuristic jet pilot with a nod and a guttural sound. When Josef Meuller destroys the crystal the astronaut glows and disappears along with the other abductees, presumably returning to their proper time and place.

Dungeons & Dragons (by Johnny Douglas)

2011-06-25T12:31:00.000+01:00

An orchestral version of the Dungeons & Dragons theme tune from Johnny Douglas' On Screen album can be purchased at iTunes. (The song can be previewed on the site).

drag bogbeast goof

2011-06-24T19:26:00.003+01:00

Now I'm all for recycling cells for crowd scenes (such as the barbarian being in the congregation at Eric's coronation) but I think having a bogbeast wearing the same frock and wig that a bogbeast Eric wore earlier on when one of Presto's spells backfired is a little silly. But nonetheless we have a frocked and bewigged bogbeast standing to the far right. The what must be purposeful inclusion of this makes no sense.

Maybe when Presto conjured them off of Eric with his next spell rather than disappearing they were conjured onto some unsuspecting bogbeast who took a liking to this new fashion?

The only difference in the animation is that the latter frock doesn't have a red collar but a white one.

twelfth talisman

2011-06-24T02:30:00.002+01:00

The pseudonym for the Stone Of Astra.

Tasmira in fairground goof

2011-06-23T01:05:00.005+01:00

Instead of going through the magic mirror to the Forest At The Edge Of The World with the other fairie dragons, queen Tasmira accidentally flies through into the amusement park.

ginger Bobby goof

2011-06-22T20:57:00.003+01:00

During a scene inside Solarz's cave Bobby's has his hair coloured as ginger instead of blond.

black-haired Sheila (1) goof

2011-06-21T21:06:00.002+01:00

When Karrox is escorting the captured heroes into the Prison of Agony Sheila's hair flickers from her traditional ginger to a black colouration for a split second.

beachcomber

2011-06-21T20:09:00.000+01:00

Offering Eric a draught of deception to drink Venger is able to convince Eric that he is simply a tall, ragged beachcomber who also has become trapped in the Realm, just like the cavalier.

fantasy forest

2011-06-21T09:35:00.043+01:00

Fantasy Forest was a children's board game for two to four players (aged 4-8) where elves had to negotiate a forest's tangled trail to reach Magic Mountain where the wizard Morley lives in his castle.

The game was published by TSR in 1980 and designed by Michael Gray but it was reissued in 1990 with four PVC figurines depicting Hank the ranger, Presto the magician, Sheila the thief and Uni the unicorn.

The contents are:

1 game-board
4 stand-up playing pieces
60 numbered monster cards
1 Hank the ranger card
1 Sheila the thief card
1 Presto the magician card
1 Uni card
1 Hank the ranger figurine
1 Sheila the thief figurine
1 Presto the magician figurine
1 Uni figurine

The cards with their quantities and values are:

x4 orc (1)
x3 spider (1)
x6 goblin (2)
x5 kobold (2)
x6 ogre (3)
x5 troll (3)
x7 Minotaur (4)
x6 werewolf (4)
x6 giant (5)
x5 mummy (5)
x4 vampire (6)
x3 dragon (7)
x1 Hank the ranger (8)
x1 Presto the magician (8)
x1 Sheila the thief (8)
x1 Uni (8)

lopsided animation cell goof

2011-06-20T21:18:00.004+01:00

When Eric, Presto and Diana are walking through the mushroom forest the animation cell has been placed lopsided on the background so the bottom left corner shows unpainted animation on Presto but more noticeably on Diana.

escape from Venger

2011-06-20T12:11:00.003+01:00

Printed on the inside back covers of the 1986 annual was a simple board game where the players had to escape from Venger's dungeon by rolling one die.

In a poor piece of design one of the squares instructs the player to go forward three spaces when Hank finds a magic key but this places them on a square that instructs them to go back two spaces because they have fallen into a pit, so confusingly the player only advances one square.

Eric with Hank's voice goof

2011-06-19T21:57:00.002+01:00

A surprised Eric exclaims "Dungeon Master!" on seeing his mentor but does so in the voice of his friend Hank who is standing beside him.

dice game

2011-06-19T16:16:00.004+01:00

This unimaginatively titled board game was from the 1987 annual and based on the snakes & ladders game with dragons substituting the snakes and the magical rope ladder leading to Merlin's castle substituting the ladders. The game has no written instructions but presumably the player moves forward an amount of squares equal to the roll of one die, moving up the ladders and down the dragons. The scenery illustrations are copied from the sticker book's world map.

Presto's returning hat goof

2011-06-18T22:24:00.005+01:00

In the scene where Presto watches Tiamat and a nightmare-mounted Venger duel in the skies above, the boy magician is wearing his green hat despite having had it stolen by Venger and with the totem clearly visible in the villain's possession in the scene before. The hat has disappeared again by his next scene.

black-haired Sheila (2) goof

2011-06-17T22:39:00.001+01:00

When the heroes escape the orc-besieged Moon Forest in a hot air balloon Sheila's hair is coloured black for several seconds.

Cave Of The Fairie Dragons (storyboard)

2011-06-17T08:50:00.001+01:00

ginger Diana goof

2011-06-16T23:36:00.001+01:00

In the scene where the sprite is talking to the heroes Diana's hair is ginger instead of brown.

Dekkion's sword

2011-06-16T15:11:00.001+01:00

Dekkion has what appears to be a magical sword. In a battle with Venger he uses it to channel turquoise-coloured mystical energy through it and deflect similar mystical bolts. He seems reliant on the sword as when an invisible Sheila steals it from its scabbard he surrenders.

It is possible that Dekkion's sword is a normal one but he uses it to channel his own sorcery through it and that he surrendered when it was stolen because he was outnumbered and needed to persuade the heroes to complete his quest.