1st Edition AD&D Part IV- The adversary

Continuing my delving into the backstory of "THE CAMPAIGN" is a look at the BBEG, "Big Bad Evil Guy" that features so prominently in most of the fantasy genre. In "THE CAMPAIGN" the BBEG was like many of the PCs based on a citadel miniature. In this case like the half ogre fighter who was a member of our party the BBEG was based on a citadel chaos warrior miniature. Due to the fact that everything was 25mm minis back then the mini looked suitably imposing. Of course the only time he appeared on the table that I can recall was at the very end.

The mini was the BBEG was this one (and you can find many of them here.)

The three items that factored as "McGuffns" for three of the PCs off of the mini were as follows:

• Dave's halfling fighter/thief was after the bear cloak that was missing for some reason from the halflings.
• Jim's dwarf fighter was in search of the axe.
• My dark elf fighter/rune-caster was in search of his shield (see below for picture). In my case it was a sacred relic for the dark elves. As I noted previously it did 2-20 points of damage.

In a way I think Jeff did a great job with utilizing what was on the mini to give some back story for three out of the seven PCs. Think about that he tied in a reason for seven different races to seek out one NPC. Kinda like a Thulsa Doom in a way.

Now my memories of Dragotha (no not that one) are bit sketchy in some parts. From what I remember he was a warrior who may have had some clerical abilities. Since this was a 1st edition games I believe that Dragotha was double specialized in battle axe and also wielded the shield in the other for three attacks per round, pretty much chewing through almost anything in his way.

Certainly I do recall that his symbol was the Cross of Confusion. What the Hell did it matter right? All of us little punks were satanic anyways! (as a funny aside about Dark Dungeons- I've been reading these damn AD&D books for 30 something years and I still can't coax even a cantrip out of them! Help I'm doing something wrong I fear! I want the real power!) In any event we would often some across this symbol. I cant place the adventure but I do remember it on a banner flapping in the breeze in a ruined chapel of some sort. It stands out in my mind because I think that was the first time we saw it in the game.

The shield of Arion in "The Campaign"

We encountered his minions on occasion, but more often then not, he was only it was "trace amounts"; his handiwork in other words. I recall usually just before we arrived in an area...

As to the reasons for why the other PCs were tracking him down I can't say, perhaps if Jeff ever unearths his notes some light can be shed.  I do recall the final battle and conclusion of the campaign against him, but I'll save that for the end.