So, I was talking with a co-worker just a little while ago.  We both used to play D&D back in the 80s.  In the conversation, I made a reference (jokingly) to Tiamat, the 5-headed dragon.  He had no idea what I was talking about.

He knows about the 5-headed dragon, but had no idea that there was one specifically named "Tiamat".  I said that not knowing about Tiamat would be like being a fan of American Baseball and not knowing who Babe Ruth was.  I insisted he turn in his 20-sided die, but he disagreed.

Was I out of line?  Should my co-worker be forced to turn in his 20-sider?  Do I need a life? :)

Anyone who does not know who Tiamat is never really played the game and has no business discussing it. And yes perhaps you and I do need lives.

My only experience with Tiamat or D&D ended with Hank, Sheila and that one-horned baddie: Venger.

I wouldn't equate Tiamat to Babe Ruth.  Sure, they were both big, bad and powerful, but Babe was famous when the whole country was into baseball - the whole country has never been into D&D.

I guess Tiamat was one of those things that people who read every D&D supplement available to them (hand raised) was aware of, but the ordinary(?) player would not be, because she wasn't in any modules that I know of - 

So, I don't think you could claim to be a hard-core D&D fan without knowing Tiamat, but you certainly could have played quite a bit without running into her -

PS  = Can you name the king of the good dragons without looking?

More info on Tiamat here - includes the answer to my question also -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiamat_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)

I played a bit myself in the early to mid-80s...I think anyone with a monster manual would know who Tiamat was.

As the co-worker in question let me point out a few things:

I played roughly 30 years ago (in college) so there could be some memory issues at work here. 

The entry in the 1979 version of the Monster Manual I have lists the main entry as Chromatic Dragon with the name Tiamat listed in parenthesis after it (and in the text description as well).

There is only 1 Tiamat, and she rules the first plane of Nine Hells and is a 16 Hit Dice creature.  I mention this because in the 3 or 4 years I actively played, there was only a relatively short time frame that our group would have been high enough level to even consider being able to go up against such a creature with any chance of success.  So the chances of our ever having to come across Tiamat are really low - she isn't the type to just be wandering around randomly.

Anyway, back in the day I may have known it had a specific name, but since she was never part of our campaigns and I didn't watch the D&D cartoon that came out later I don't think its that surprising that I don't recall her formal name (shrug) - you are of course free to disagree!

Ogre has something to add to this discussion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZEdDMQZaCU

 I see 3 possibilities here:

1) You were a true D&D player, in the innocence of your youth equally afraid of orcs as beholders when you first encountered them.  You only owned the player's handbook.  You have never heard of Tiamat.

2) You were the dungeon master, truly adept at creating both tension and alleviating it with humor when the situation required.  You owned the player's handbook and monster manual.

3) You were true nerd, who had more D&D books than real life friends.  You owned all editions of all the books.  You dreamed of having a character powerful enough to fight Tiamat.  You can still recite Tiamat's stats and resistances to this day.

The Good dragon was the Platinum Dragon Bahamat I think.  I didn't look it up, I'm pretty sure I'm correct.

Amidon37 wrote:

I wouldn't equate Tiamat to Babe Ruth.  Sure, they were both big, bad and powerful, but Babe was famous when the whole country was into baseball - the whole country has never been into D&D.

I was trying to say that Tiamat is to D&D what Babe Ruth is to baseball - sorry if that was unclear.

RiskyBack wrote:

The Good dragon was the Platinum Dragon Bahamat I think.  I didn't look it up, I'm pretty sure I'm correct.

You beat me too it! +1 for RB

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Perhaps the only fair thing is to make Mongo roll a saving throw to see if he gets to keep his 20-sider. :)

AttilaTheHun wrote:

Ogre has something to add to this discussion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZEdDMQZaCU

literal LOL...

Having just recently read Enuma Elish (the Babylonian creation story), it was rather surprising to see the name "Tiamat" pop up again over here in a completely different context. In myth, Tiamat is not so much evil as the embodiment of primordial chaos (the goddess represents the uncontrollable ocean in the form of a dragon). Tiamat, and chaos with her, are overthrown by the god-hero Marduk, the Babylonian supreme deity, who then proceeds to construct an ordered universe out of her carcass. Interestingly enough, Marduk is only the last in line of a string of former supreme deities (belonging to earlier cultures) -- the Babylonians supplanted them and raised Marduk in their place as part of a political legitimation of their civilization. The story dates to sometime in the 2nd millennium BCE.

Trabi wrote:

 I see 3 possibilities here:

1) You were a true D&D player, in the innocence of your youth equally afraid of orcs as beholders when you first encountered them.  You only owned the player's handbook.  You have never heard of Tiamat.

2) You were the dungeon master, truly adept at creating both tension and alleviating it with humor when the situation required.  You owned the player's handbook and monster manual.

3) You were true nerd, who had more D&D books than real life friends.  You owned all editions of all the books.  You dreamed of having a character powerful enough to fight Tiamat.  You can still recite Tiamat's stats and resistances to this day.

You also could have gotten in on the ground floor and played vanilla for a couple of years and then gotten out when expansions and add-ons started vacuum sucking your wallet (I'm looking at you, M:tG); before knowing the Chromatic Dragon by the name Tiamat. IIRC, she didn't get that label until "Advanced" D&D.

Cramchakle wrote:

Trabi wrote:

 I see 3 possibilities here:

1) You were a true D&D player, in the innocence of your youth equally afraid of orcs as beholders when you first encountered them.  You only owned the player's handbook.  You have never heard of Tiamat.

You also could have gotten in on the ground floor and played vanilla for a couple of years and then gotten out when expansions and add-ons started vacuum sucking your wallet (I'm looking at you, M:tG); before knowing the Chromatic Dragon by the name Tiamat. IIRC, she didn't get that label until "Advanced" D&D.

To be fair, I guess that's pretty much what you said in option 1, just with more editorializing.

I feel like I had a monster manual where the Platinum dragon was Paladine, but maybe I am just making that up from reading Dragonlance.

LOL...that was probably Dragonlance.  The only thing I remember from that series was Tanis, some corrupt lame wizard named Raistlin and a grumpy dwarf named Flint. 

Thingol wrote:

LOL...that was probably Dragonlance.  The only thing I remember from that series was Tanis, some corrupt lame wizard named Raistlin and a grumpy dwarf named Flint. 

Nope, that is the 'other' 5-headed dragon, Takesis.  These are all referances to the 'original' D&D realm...Greyhawk.