Begeisterter Neuanfang (2008)

Second promotional adventure from Ulisses Spiele for Das Schwarze Auge. Handed for free on the RatCon 2008 (and other cons following that).

At first glance, Begeisterter Neuanfang looks like a regular saddle-stapled module, familiar to gamers since the early days of Dungeons and Dragons. Sixteen pages of module, thwack 'em together with a couple staples, and there you go. Nothing new here.

But wait, where are the staples? A closer inspection reveals that this module is entirely staple-free. Those clever folks at Ulisses Spiele invented the staple-less saddle staple, binding the book as you would a softcover, minus the spine. (Printers have since come to call this the "politician's binding".)

This format has a number of advantages. Apart from the obvious appeal to environmentally friendly green gamers - Wait, did those pages come from renewable forests? Were the environmental standards of the country of origin upheld? - you can also sneak this module past even the most sensitive metal detectors.

Besides, those stupid staples always did wind up rusty and ugly a couple decades down the line.