What a treat it was to see stats for Bargle in the latest Critical Threat. I started playing D&D in the days of the "Red Box Set" and was immediately enamored by this dastardly villain!
Over the years, as players came and gone and as DM's changed Bargle almost always appeared in each and every campaign. Sometimes he was a major NPC, other times he was a bit player but every time he left his mark on the players.
As a player, I have learned to hate Bargle more than any other NPC to date. He has stolen our glory, defeated us in combat, stolen precious magic items and treasure from us, ridiculed us, and has always managed to stay one step ahead of us.
As a DM, I have used Bargle as the BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy) in many a campaign and my players hate him just as much. On rare occasions the players have gotten the better of Bargle but it seems that Bargle never stays down for long. He always returns, someway, somehow in this campaign or the next.
And now, as I game with a group of mostly newer players, they too are learning who Bargle is and how vast his evil can be. And they too can't wait for the day that Bargle the Infamous is defeated.
Who know, maybe one of these days I'll eventually explain how this madman always manages to return. I sense a new campaign idea brewing here....
Anyways, thanks Dungeon, and thanks James for the trip down memory lane!
I enjoyed seeing the article on Bargle as well. I've run many a campaign based around the Grand Duchy and the Black Eagle Barony, and was nice seeing old Bargle get some magazine space. The bit about Aleena was a nice touch too. My only complaint was that they really gimped out his stats. Like c'mon 39 hps? Almost no real defensive spells , and probably the worst will fort and reflex saves ever for a lvl 15 wizard. Oh well guess he will use alot of minions or put that clone spell he has to alot of good use heh.
Bargle...ahhh, the cause of much nostalgia. I, like other it appears, met and faced down Bargle many a time in my early RPG days. The dastardly villain kept escaping though!
Bargle, along with carrion crawlers, a keep on the borderlands, burning hands and magic missle are among my earliest D&D memories.
Bargle was a great throwback to my very first D&D campaign in Mystara--before I knew what Mystara was.
I remember my brother played a halfling with--get this--an ancient artifact in the shape of a ring. He was accompanied by an aged wizard (Zeen Tem, father of Zanzer Tem), and had to avoid the ambushes laid out by Bargle to seize the ring.
Well, Tolkien made his artifact a ring of invisibility (ethereal jaunt?), but mine, an artifact by the name of Dynarast, shot a blast of fire like that from a space shuttle--burning off the wearer's finger in the process.
Bargle pestered the characters for a long time, and never was caught. Perhaps its time to reintroduce this villain in a long overdue conclusion.
I had the red boxed set, but I just don't remember Bargle at all... This is the Basic set we're talking about, with "Keep on the Borderlands" included as an added bonus?
Kirth, it would be this box. The boxes with KotB included are the older versions of the basic set.
And in the red box, Bargle was the villain in the introductory story.
Stefan
Kirth, it would be this box. The boxes with KotB included are the older versions of the basic set. And in the red box, Bargle was the villain in the introductory story.
Thank you, Stefan. It appears I am even older than I realized...
Thank you, Stefan. It appears I am even older than I realized...
It is always a sad moment if the naked truth cannot be denied any longer... ;-)
Stefan
Bargle...ahhh, the cause of much nostalgia. I, like other it appears, met and faced down Bargle many a time in my early RPG days. The dastardly villain kept escaping though!
Bargle, along with carrion crawlers, a keep on the borderlands, burning hands and magic missle are among my earliest D&D memories.
Indeed. I was thinking about this today after seeing this post, and I came to the sudden and shocking realisation that I've been playing and DM-ing (A)D&D since 1984...which I suppose makes me "mid-school" or something...
For me Bargle is a little underpowered for a 15th-level wizard in comparison with most other wizards of similar level I have seen. Maybe it's just me, but I actually found him a little underwhelming.