***Begin Part 4***
26:  What is "fluff?"

A:  Fluff is a term used for stories written and distributed on the Internet.
    In the case of rec.games.frp.dnd, it takes the form of stories based on
    the results of roleplaying sessions.  Some people like reading fluff,
    some don't mind it, and some rabidly detest it.  If you feel you must
    post your fluff, please put STORY: at the beginning of the subject line
    so that is can be easily found or avoided, as the case may be.  This is
    ok for one-shot short stories, but if you are writing longer works, such 
    as stories based on entire campaigns, then please do not post the 
    chapters to rgfd.  Instead, send them to the rec.games.frp.archives 
    moderator, and then post a note in rgfd stating that anyone who wishes to 
    read your story may find it in rec.games.frp.archives.

27:  Who's this "Monty Haul" character I keep hearing about?

A:  Monty Hall was the host of the 60's & 70's, and 90's American game show
    _Let's Make a Deal_.  People would dress up in silly costumes, then be
    chosen out of the crowd to play the game.  Monty would give the lucky
    contestant a handful of money, then talk them into trading the money
    for whatever was behind door number one, door number two, door number
    three, or what was in the box, or they could just keep the money.  Each
    time they traded, he would give them another choice.  After they decided
    to stick with a choice, Monty revealed what had been won.  Prizes could
    be anything, good or bad, such as money, cars, jewelry, a years supply of 
    auto wax, goats, inner tubes, exotic vacations, a pound of confetti, etc.
    Gary Gygax named the style of play where game masters hid treasures
    behind some doors, monsters behind others and then let the players choose
    their fate "Monty Haul" gaming, making a pun on the game show host's 
    name.
      The term has come to be used to refer to sessions where game masters 
    create munchkin players; basically any game can be considered a Monty 
    Haul game where the game master sets up unfathomable amounts of treasure 
    and earth-shattering magic items guarded by weak and wimpy monsters, thus 
    giving enormous amounts of power to beginning-level characters.

28:  What is "munchkinism?"  What does the Wizard of Oz have to do with *D&D?

A:  Munchkinism is often confused with Monty Haul gaming in that both involve
    incredibly high power levels with a minimum of risk involved.  However,
    where Monty Haul is usually the fault of the GM, munchkinism is usually
    the demense of players.  Munchkin characters are created by "min/maxing,"
    a.k.a. "rules rape," wherein the player finds any and all advantages 
    the rules allow the character, with few, if any drawbacks.  Such
    characters tend to be ultra-powerful, and can destroy whole armies in
    one round.  Any such character choices are made solely from a power-
    level standpoint, and not from a roleplaying point of view.
      Munchkin characters are usually seen when a player wishes to bring in
    a favorite character who was "allowed" in a previous GM's campaign, one 
    with the maximum ability scores, proficiencies, abilities, and enough 
    magic and special items to take out both Death Stars simultaneously from 
    across the galaxy.
      No one seems to know exactly how such characters have come to be 
    identified with the tiny folk from L. Frank Baum's books, but it
    probably has something to do with the sheer annoyance factor such
    characters exude.

29:  What are the best *D&D books and/or modules to get a hold of?

A:  This depends on who you ask.  Everybody has their own opinions on which
    products are great and which are trash.  However, there is a running
    survey of every *D&D product TSR has ever put out, maintained by Goth. 
    It rates each product on a 1-10 scale, based on the average of all of the
    responses.  The survey and results are occasionally reposted on rgfd and
    rec.games.frp.archives, and the results are archived at MPGN.

30:  What to those letter/number combinations on older modules and handbooks
    stand for?

A:  Up until late 1994, TSR game every product an alphanumeric code, as well
    as a numeric product code.  The letter codes were based in some way on
    the product, and the number following the letter designated which one
    in the series it was.  For example, Against the _G_iants was G1-3, the
    Vault of the _D_row was D1-3, and _Q_ueen of the Demonweb pits was Q1.
    Some codes were based on other factors; for example, Competition
    modules for tournament use were given a C designation, and the Special
    series was S1-4.
      This use carried over into 2nd ed., with the Players HandBook Reference
    series (PHBR), Dungeon Masters Guide Reference (DMGR), and Historic 
    Reference (HR) series, as well as the GA/R (General Adventure/Referece)
    RA/R (Ravenloft A/R), WGA/R (World of Greyhawk A/R), et al. series.
    Late in 1994, TSR decided that this system was getting out of hand (what
    with the <class> Challenge series being given HHQ1-4 !?), and dropped
    the system.  Now, products are only coded by product number, a four-
    digit code that TSR uses to track its products.
      For more information on what the letter/number codes stood for, see
   the complete TSR Product Listings maintained by Goth and found on
   MPGN.

31:  What was removed from Deities & Demigods?

A:  The first printing of Dieties & Demigods included the mythoi of Cthulhu
    and Melibone.  The licenses to game representations of these two mythoi 
    were not, however owned by TSR, but by other game companies.  TSR was
    asked to remove them from the book.  When the book went into its second
    printing, they were gone.  Later, the book was republished under the
    name Legends & Lore, and the two mythoi were still gone.
      When Legends & Lore was updated to 2nd ed. AD&D, several more
    mythoi were removed, namely the Babylonian, Finnish, Nonhuman, and 
    Sumerian mythoi; and the Central American mythos was renamed the
    Aztec mythos.  Contrary to rumor, the Newhon mythos was never removed,
    and, in fact, is included in the 2nd ed. L&L, probably due to the fact
    that TSR owns the license to produce Lankhmar materials.  The deities of
    the nonhumans were reintroduced in Monster Mythology.

32:  Who is this Cthulhu guy, anyways?

A:  Once and for all, Cthulhu is a fictional character.  Anyone who tells you 
    differently is pulling your leg. The Cthulhu mythos was the creation of 
    H.P. Lovecraft, originating in a group of science fiction/horror stories 
    he wrote in the early twentieth century.  Several of his friends, such as 
    August Derleth, decided to also write stories about the evil octopoid 
    being, and these tales, along with Lovecraft's own, form the basis of the 
    "Cthulhu Mythos."  Cthulhu himself is portrayed as an evil being from the 
    stars who sleeps in his temple on an Atlantis-like sunken island. Cthulhu 
    stories are still being written today by friends and fans of Lovecraft.  
    For more information, see the alt.horror.cthulhu FAQ.

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