This review was sent directly to me by Marc H. Wyman this afternoon. As it is the first review of Almanac One, I thought it might be of interest to those who have been waiting for reviews before buying...
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General impressions first:
The zine looks pretty good. The only flaw I found that to my taste the text ran a bit too close to the margins, but I got used to it surprisingly fast. The great illustrations stand out immediately, pleasantly strewn throughout the zine. The text is easy to read, with a good font and spacing.
All in all, holding the printed mag in my hand, it reminds me (quite warmly) of my old days in Star Trek fandom some ten or so years ago, long before the web -- including that fuzzy feeling when the ordered zine finally arrives in the mail, I unwrap it and head for a quiet spot to spend a couple hours reading.
Okay, actually there's something else bothering me a bit: The fonts for the logos and the ads for upcoming issues look quite grainy to me. It might be that my printer is giving me a hard time once again (it SOOO loves doing that).
More in-depth:
The artwork is first rate, and holds up terrifically in print (as does the entire zine). Since I neither am nor wish to be an art critic, I can only say that the drawings are excellent. Kudos.
The articles are well written, with a light touch and plenty of good ideas. Certainly a pleasure to read, all across the board.
On to the articles themselves:
"The Depths of the Earth": How to really design a long-lasting dungeon... Quite a lot of good information and information on how to get the most out of it; I like how Bernard Taylor deals with the long-term ramifications of the original design (and the exploration of same). This is a great and concise guide.
"The Gold Rush": Uh-huh. I wanna sell the shovels.
Now this is a really fun article, because you're going into areas often left alone. What happens around the actual site of the adventure can be a lot of fun, too, and you're cramming a lot of good ideas into the article. I especially like how the interactions of inhabitants/newcomers/PCs are changing over time.
"Levelling up your Game": Jason Shoemate does a great job of enhancing the dungeon crawl experience by exploring real-world caverns and the effects that PCs and their actions would have on such an environment. The smoke which refuses to vanish immediately is a great reminder the characters are very much indoors. The constant damp is something I'd love to see more often in a good ol' crawl...
"Lessons from History": Well, I'm a history buff. No surprise that I enjoyed this column a great deal. Beyond that, Robert Conway dishes up quite a lot of interesting hooks how and where to set an adventure/campaign. The "New World" idea is a rich concept he's mining with aplomb; plenty to fuel a lot of role-playing sessions.
"Putting SF into Fantasy: The Race for the Moon": [Irony warning!!!] I hate this column. Absolutely. Definitely. No particular reason, except that----- I developed the very same idea for Gushémal about half a year ago! Most of the things I've been working on are RIGHT HERE in this article! Darn! "Moonflash take ye!" (Yup, the moonflash is part of the reason why people on Gushémal would want to visit their moon. And that was the first instance where I've planted seeds/hints about the upcoming storyline(s) about the moonshot.)
Okay, seriously: Great job! Since you've hit on a lot of the same points I have, I couldn't find that much fault with this article, now could I? I liked the references to SF books like the Bob Shaw's "Ragged Astronauts" and Trek.
"Hosting a Campaign Online": Hmm, I don't know too much about this, but it seems S. Lyle Raymond has covered pretty much everything I'd need to run a campaign on the web. (Especially that I should stay away from e-mail based RPGing; I'd been toying with that idea a while ago...)
"Extraordinary Cavalry": The very best explanation is the question Robert Sullivan poses in his opening, "Why not use such animals in a campaign?" Having characters ride zebra or griffons should make for some very interesting adventures -- especially when one imagines what they look like. Sullivan offers all the necessary information on the basics, but it's the original quote that really launches the imagination and makes one want to incorporate such beasts into a campaign.
"The Lost Alley": Easily my second favorite article (after the Race for the Moon), because the idea is intriguing and its elaboration is solidly built. The alley can be taken to so many lengths, this is a great idea, with plenty of background to work with.
Finally:
Almanac is a great magazine full of ideas. Great job on avoiding most of the clichés and providing a base to enhance or launch campaigns! I'm looking forward to future issues, that's for sure.
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General impressions first:
The zine looks pretty good. The only flaw I found that to my taste the text ran a bit too close to the margins, but I got used to it surprisingly fast. The great illustrations stand out immediately, pleasantly strewn throughout the zine. The text is easy to read, with a good font and spacing.
All in all, holding the printed mag in my hand, it reminds me (quite warmly) of my old days in Star Trek fandom some ten or so years ago, long before the web -- including that fuzzy feeling when the ordered zine finally arrives in the mail, I unwrap it and head for a quiet spot to spend a couple hours reading.
Okay, actually there's something else bothering me a bit: The fonts for the logos and the ads for upcoming issues look quite grainy to me. It might be that my printer is giving me a hard time once again (it SOOO loves doing that).
More in-depth:
The artwork is first rate, and holds up terrifically in print (as does the entire zine). Since I neither am nor wish to be an art critic, I can only say that the drawings are excellent. Kudos.
The articles are well written, with a light touch and plenty of good ideas. Certainly a pleasure to read, all across the board.
On to the articles themselves:
"The Depths of the Earth": How to really design a long-lasting dungeon... Quite a lot of good information and information on how to get the most out of it; I like how Bernard Taylor deals with the long-term ramifications of the original design (and the exploration of same). This is a great and concise guide.
"The Gold Rush": Uh-huh. I wanna sell the shovels.
Now this is a really fun article, because you're going into areas often left alone. What happens around the actual site of the adventure can be a lot of fun, too, and you're cramming a lot of good ideas into the article. I especially like how the interactions of inhabitants/newcomers/PCs are changing over time. "Levelling up your Game": Jason Shoemate does a great job of enhancing the dungeon crawl experience by exploring real-world caverns and the effects that PCs and their actions would have on such an environment. The smoke which refuses to vanish immediately is a great reminder the characters are very much indoors. The constant damp is something I'd love to see more often in a good ol' crawl...
"Lessons from History": Well, I'm a history buff. No surprise that I enjoyed this column a great deal. Beyond that, Robert Conway dishes up quite a lot of interesting hooks how and where to set an adventure/campaign. The "New World" idea is a rich concept he's mining with aplomb; plenty to fuel a lot of role-playing sessions.
"Putting SF into Fantasy: The Race for the Moon": [Irony warning!!!] I hate this column. Absolutely. Definitely. No particular reason, except that----- I developed the very same idea for Gushémal about half a year ago! Most of the things I've been working on are RIGHT HERE in this article! Darn! "Moonflash take ye!" (Yup, the moonflash is part of the reason why people on Gushémal would want to visit their moon. And that was the first instance where I've planted seeds/hints about the upcoming storyline(s) about the moonshot.)
Okay, seriously: Great job! Since you've hit on a lot of the same points I have, I couldn't find that much fault with this article, now could I? I liked the references to SF books like the Bob Shaw's "Ragged Astronauts" and Trek.
"Hosting a Campaign Online": Hmm, I don't know too much about this, but it seems S. Lyle Raymond has covered pretty much everything I'd need to run a campaign on the web. (Especially that I should stay away from e-mail based RPGing; I'd been toying with that idea a while ago...)
"Extraordinary Cavalry": The very best explanation is the question Robert Sullivan poses in his opening, "Why not use such animals in a campaign?" Having characters ride zebra or griffons should make for some very interesting adventures -- especially when one imagines what they look like. Sullivan offers all the necessary information on the basics, but it's the original quote that really launches the imagination and makes one want to incorporate such beasts into a campaign.
"The Lost Alley": Easily my second favorite article (after the Race for the Moon), because the idea is intriguing and its elaboration is solidly built. The alley can be taken to so many lengths, this is a great idea, with plenty of background to work with.
Finally:
Almanac is a great magazine full of ideas. Great job on avoiding most of the clichés and providing a base to enhance or launch campaigns! I'm looking forward to future issues, that's for sure.
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