Aleena the Cleric Iconic D&D Legend Character Sheet Revealed

 

Aleena the Cleric was the legendary character introduced in the BECMI D&D Red Box introductory adventure. Her tragic death at the hands of the evil Wizard Bargle inspired thousands of players to go on adventures and seek justice for this innocent and brave hero. Aleena went in to become an NPC in the Mystara setting, appearing in Gaz1 The Grand Duchy of Karameikos and the the AD&D Boxed Set Karameikos: Kingdom of Magic. The introductory adventure also gave inspiration to the Kill Bargle phenomenon and was revisited several times in Dragon Magazine during the Paizo era. 

Frank Mentzer, editor of the TSR top selling D&D Red Box Basic Set and the rest of the BECMI line revealed the charcter sheet used for Aleena back in 2020 and shared it again now for the 50th anniversary of the D&D Gamenull. According to Frank, this character was rolled up in 1977 and the character sheet shows the character as she appeared in ca 1979. Aleena was played by Aileen Shea in Frank's campaign. As presented this character sheet presents Aleena as an 8th level Cleric wielding a +2 Mace of Disruption and a +1 Shield. She is dressed in plate armor. 

The character sheet also reveals some fantasic adventures that this character has lived through. She has retrieved a magical ring from a Type II Demon. These Frog-like demons were lated renamed Hezrou and also provided the inspiration for the Croaking Demons from the BECMI Immortal Set. What happened to this ring, I wonder?

Sadly, the character sheet also states that Aleena has been killed by the hands of a Mummy. Does this mean Bargle was an undead all along?

With WotC revisiting all kinds of obscure characters for their new 2024 Core Rulebooks, why aren't they using Bargle and Aleena?

Discuss this topic further on The Piazzaon The Piazza.

-Havard