Dungeon

A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period. An oubliette is a form of dungeon which is accessible only from a hatch in a high ceiling.

Etymology

The word dungeon comes from Old French donjon (also spelled dongeon), which in its earliest usage meant a "keep", the main tower of a castle. The first recorded instance of the word in English was near the beginning of the 14th century when it held the same meaning as donjon. Though it is uncertain, both dungeon and donjon are thought to derive from the Middle Latin word dominio, meaning "lord" or "master".

In French, the term donjon still refers to a "keep", and the term oubliette is a more appropriate translation of English dungeon. Donjon is therefore a false friend to dungeon (for instance, the game Dungeons & Dragons is titled Donjons et Dragons in its French editions).

Dungeon!

Dungeon! is a 1975 adventure board game designed by David R. Megarry, Gary Gygax, Michael Gray, Steve Winter and S. Schwab, published by TSR, Inc.Dungeon! simulates some aspects of the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) role-playing game which was released the year before, although Megarry had a prototype of Dungeon! ready as early as 1972.

Dungeon! features a map of a simple six-level dungeon with hallways, rooms and chambers. Players move around the board seeking to defeat monsters and claim treasure. Greater treasures are located in deeper levels of the dungeon, along with tougher monsters. Players choose different character classes with different abilities. The object of the game is to be the first to return to the beginning chamber with a set value of treasure.

Original edition

David M. Ewalt, in his book Of Dice and Men, described Megarry's original edition of the game as "a Blackmoor-inspired board game that represented TSR's most ambitious production to date: a color game map, customized cards, tokens, dice, and a rules booklet all packaged in an attractive box".

Dungeon (magazine)

Dungeon Adventures, or simply Dungeon, was a magazine targeting consumers of role-playing games, particularly Dungeons & Dragons. It was first published by TSR, Inc. in 1986 as a bimonthly periodical. It went monthly in May 2003 and ceased print publication altogether in September 2007 with Issue 150. Starting in 2008, Dungeon and its more widely read sister publication, Dragon, went to an online-only format published by Wizards of the Coast. Both magazines went on hiatus at the end of 2013, with Dungeon Issue 221 being the last released.

Each issue featured a variety of self-contained, pre-scripted, play-tested game scenarios, often called "modules" (commonly referred to as "adventures" or "scenarios"). Dungeon Masters (DMs) could either enact these adventures with their respective player groups as written or adapt them to their own campaign settings. Dungeon aimed to save DMs time and effort in preparing game sessions for their players by providing a full complement of ideas, hooks, plots, adversaries, creatures, illustrations, maps, hand-outs, and character dialogue. It was a resource containing several modules per issue, significantly cheaper than standard-format modules.

Steelheart

Steelheart is a rock band based in Norwalk, Connecticut, formed in 1990.

History

Steelheart started off as a rock band called Red Alert whose members included James Ward (bass), Chris Risola (guitars), Jack Wilkenson (drums) and after auditioning, Miljenko Matijevic on vocals. Frank DiCostanzo joined as a second guitarist and John Fowler replaced Jack Wilkenson on drums, after leaving the band Rage of Angels. Recording a four-track demo tape, Matijevic met artist manager Stan Poses. Poses was not interested but the next day, after hearing the demo tape, called confirming that "Red Alert" had just been given a contract with MCA records. Realizing that the Red Alert name was already taken, the band settled on Steelheart allegedly because of their attitude after trying to get a record deal for so long.

Steelheart released their self-titled debut album in 1990. The second single "I'll Never Let You Go (Angel Eyes)" reached No. 14 on the Billboard charts, and was MTV's 2nd most requested video. The album reached No. 40 on the Billboard charts. "Everybody Loves Eileen" and its accompanying video were also successful. The song "Can't Stop Me Lovin' You" showcased Matijevic's vocal range, but this time, lead guitarist Risola's guitar skills were also noticed. A video accompanied it. In the song "Love Ain't Easy", Matijevic hits his highest note of all three albums.

Steelheart (album)

Steelheart was the first full-length album by Steelheart. It was released on May 10, 1990 and later re-released with a new cover in 1991. It reached #40 on the Billboard 200. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA in 1991.

Note that the Bruce Dickinson who co-produced this album is an American producer, not the singer for British heavy metal band Iron Maiden.

Track listing

Personnel

Additional personnel

The Reckoners

The Reckoners is a young adult fantasy series written by American author Brandon Sanderson. Three books are planned in the series: Steelheart (published September 2013), Firefight (published Jan 2015), and Calamity (will come out February 16, 2016). The series depicts a post-apocalyptic world in which the appearance of an orbiting object has given random people superhuman powers in apparent defiance of known physical laws, turning them into "Epics". These powers have impelled most of them to prey upon or enslave the rest of humanity, causing the collapse of traditional governments. One young man orphaned by a High Epic joins an elite underground resistance movement.

Background

Twelve years ago, a object dubbed Calamity appeared near Earth and burst in the sky, emitting a strange radiation which gave a small group of humans super powers and near invincibility in apparent defiance of the known laws of physics. They all have different types of powers and weaknesses, with no apparent rhyme or reason. Dubbed Epics, these super-humans took to crime. Existing government proved absolutely incapable of controlling the Epics, the most powerful of which replaced government authority and enslaved the rest of humanity.