Pterodactyl Hunt 1987

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Note: This page is a historical record of the decisions and events involved in a past Pterodactyl Hunt. It was not and should not be used in the planning of any Pterodactyl Hunt, except as a reference.
The appropriate venue for those running the Pterodactyl Hunt to plan is the hunt list, hunt (at) swil.org.

Table of contents

1 Monster list 2 Side Quests 3 Rule Set 4 Anecdotes and Gameplay 5 Orientation 6 Layout 7 Economy 8 External Links

Monster list

The following monsters were used in the 1987 hunt:

Monster	Played by
The Black Knight
The Cat
Hobgoblin Queen
Hydra
Oracle
Orc King
Pterodactyl(s)
The Werewolf
The Jabberwock

Side Quests

Rule Set

Bhadrika '88 described the Pterodactyl Hunt of the mid-80's to JillianWaldman after SWILmeeting on the day of the 2005 Hunt:

• The Pterodactyl was killed by being struck "three times on the toes". The validity of a hit was determined by the Pterodactyl, who was better at noticing if something hit their toes than hunters were at determining whether they'd hit the ground or someone's feet. As the night progressed, the Pterodactyls could make kills easier at their discretion, by permitting blows to the ankles, or even the knees, to count.
• There were no official Dactyl Guards. If it seemed like the Pterodactyls needed protection, some Orcs or Hobgoblins could move nearer to them to protect them. If there were too many Orcs or Hobgoblins hanging around and getting in the Pterodactyl's way, the Pterodactyl could get annoyed and kill them.
• The water gun had a range of about 10'.
• Terrain was unrestricted, and consisted of most of campus. (Remember that campus of the mid-80's had fewer buildings (http://www.swil.org/archives/Pterodactyl/Swarthmore-College,-1984-85.gif).)
• Hunter regen was on Parrish (back) porch, so fighting centered around there. We regulated the intensity of the conflict by changing the monster density -- spreading out the Pterodactyls if it was too intense, drawing them in closer if it wasn't.
• There were always two Pterodactyls.
• There was a party limit of 8. To win the hunt, one still needed an organized team, so that some members could die for the cause, allowing others to get past the guards and kill the Pterodactyls.
• There were hidden Pterodactyl Eggs scattered around the terrain.
• The Oracle of the Rose Garden was guarded by the Black Knight.
• The Black Knight didn't have his own special weapons, but was generally a good swordsman, and players lopped off his limbs, Monty Python styles. The purpose of his existence was not to prevent players from getting to the Oracle, but to give them a dramatic battle, which they would generally win. The difficulty in the Oracle/Knight quest was in making sense of the Oracle's clues. Players who returned to the Oracle for a second question had to fight the Black Knight again.
• There were two trolls, who had no particular costume, other than somewhat "flaky" clothing. The trolls were immortal, and players were not supposed to attack them. They initiated an interaction with a player by yelling "STOP!" Then the troll would ask the player a riddle. If the player answered correctly, they would be rewarded with some kind of clue; if the player answered incorrectly, they would have to listen to a story. Bhadrika says she told shaggy dog stories that made people violate the "don't attack the trolls" rule when they got to the punchline.
• The Jabberwock was created during this time, and had big foam fingers and wings. (Bhadrika said the modern Pterodactyl wings remind her of the Jabberwock's.) The Jabberwock quest was somewhat complicated. After obtaining a Vorpal Sword (how did you do this?) -- it was a standard newspaper sword, either wrapped in or painted green. However, when players came up to the Jabberwock and hit it, it didn't die. To actually kill the Jabberwock, one had to make one's vorpal sword go "snicker-snack", which was accomplished by giving the Jabberwock a Snickers snack. The Cat handed out mini Snickers bars, when given a fish, which had to be purchased from the Fishmonger.
• There was no gold, no other money, and therefore, no economy. Instead, hunters received Orc Ears and Hobgoblin Tails when they killed orcs and hobgoblins. As of 1990, whoever held the most ears and tails at the end of the Hunt won a giant-size Hershey bar.
• The Werewolf had long fake fingernails, and killed at a touch. He could be killed with tinfoil mashed into silver bullets, which were thrown at him.
• The Siren had a flashlight, and if its light fell on you, you were dead.
• MFQ (Maximum Fun Quotient) was key -- we wanted people to play and have fun, rather than engage in a complicated and challenging RPG-style game. One of the guiding assumptions was the fact that "no one but SWILfolk swordfights recreationally", and therefore nonSWILfolk were at a disadvantage to SWILfolk in combat situations -- so the hunt was much less of an us-versus-them conflict than the 00's version. (This may have something to do with the fact that geekness and swordfighting have become more popular over the last few decades, partly due to computer games. It may also be due to the fact that regardless of whether one has experience in the hobby, strength, coordination and reach are all critical elements in foam sword fighting, and over the years as the Hunt has become more popular, the more athletic Swatties have become more aggressive in exploiting their advantages to the hilt -- hence a more combat-oriented, difficult game.)

Anecdotes and Gameplay

Orientation

Layout

Economy

External Links

	History of the Pterodactyl Hunt	(view·discuss)
Topics	Equipment | Economy | Victors | Characters | Quests | Organizing
Years	1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 2006 | 2007