TSR Hobbies (UK) published Imagine magazine issue 1 in April 1983. It is 52 pages long and has a cover price of £1.00. In this issue, we have a D&D mini-module, aids for RPG beginners, and lots of news & reviews!
Gary Gygax, president of TSR Hobbies, introduces Imagine with these words:
We next hear from the editor, Keith Thomson, who says:
"The Beginner's Guide to Role-Playing Games" is uncredited and provides a short "actual play" transcript of a D&D game. It's all reasonably obvious but no doubt helpful to beginners. We then have "Stirge Corner" by Roger Musson, a planned regular column aimed at the "the no-so-experienced adventurer." In this debut article, he discusses his first "bewildering" encounter with Dungeons & Dragons. Musson also contributed to White Dwarf and had creatures included in TSR's Fiend Folio.
"QB-161-01: ANTARES" by John E. Black is a story about a man who enters fantasy worlds using a virtual reality device--but soon learns this habit has consequences in the real world. The story didn't grab me, though it may have been one of the earlier fiction pieces to explore this topic. It wasn't helped by the layout, which put line spaces between every paragraph! I can't find that John E. Black contributed anything else to the gaming scene.
There are several book reviews by David Pringle, editor of Foundation: The Review of Science Fiction, who later became editor of Interzone. Let's run through the reviews quickly. Myths of the Near Future by J. G. Ballard contains "ten vividly ironic stories, all narrated in a rich angular tone." In Viriconium by M. John Harrison is beautifully written, "in language of an intesnsity rarely equalled in modern writing." And The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe is "a deeply imaginative and moving book."
There are three non-fiction books reviewed as well. The Science in Science Fiction by Peter Nicholls is "an excellent and timely work of non-fiction." What is Dungeons & Dragons? by John Butterfield, David Honigman, and Philip Parker is "an engagingly well written work," while Dicing with Dragons: An Introduction to Role-Playing Games by Ian Livingstone is a "weightier tome" and "recommended."
"Illusionary Script" by Gordius is a page of riddles and logic puzzles. There is a solicitation at the bottom of the page asking for more submissions, so the editors intend to make this a regular column.
"The Beacon at Enon Tor" is a "mini-module" for Basic D&D, comprising a well-crafted but straightforward 13-room tower adventure. The designers were Michael Brunton, who later worked on Warhammer, and Graeme Morris, a TSR Hobbies (UK) staffer who worked on many products, including the celebrated "B10: Night's Dark Terror."
Morris also edits a four-page "magazine within the magazine" called the "D&D Players Association News," which used to be a standalone newsletter for the UK D&D Players Association. Alongside Morris's editorial, called "Pan Pipings," the mini-magazine has three features. In "Dispel Confusion," Morris and Brunton answer game questions, much like "Sage Advice" in Dragon magazine. "Rubic of Moggedon," by Runic Press International, is a comic strip. Finally, "Turnbull Talking" is a soapbox for Don Turnbull, the Managing Director of TSR Hobbies (UK) and a kind of godfather figure to UK hobby gaming.
"Tavern Talk" by Pete Tamlyn intends to "provide some well-deserved publicity for the amateur side of the hobby." Tamlyn later garnered an impressive list of RPG credits, including work for the Advanced Fighting Fantasy RPG.
There are two game reviews. Star Frontiers by TSR Hobbies is "one of the best presented games" the reviewer has seen. Meanwhile, the Judge Dredd board game by Games Workshop is a "winner," although the ultra-violent theme limits the broad appeal.
Mike Brunton returns with a self-explanatory column called "Figure Painting." Following this article are two pages of UK gaming news concerning conventions, clubs, and fanzines. Finally, the Sword of Alabron is a three-page epic comic by Ian Williamson.
This month's cover was painted by Rodney Matthews and depicts Elric and Moonglum fighting a wyrm. Interior artists include Ian Williamson, Jeremy Goodwin, Geoff Wingate, Simon Senior, Philip Kaye, Tanya Long, Dani Kaye, and Pete Young.
And that's a wrap! It's certainly a little rough around the edges when compared to Dragon magazine, but there is plenty of promise as well. The highlight for me was the mini-module. Next month, we have the barbarian class by Gary Gygax, lots of game reviews, and a new adventure by Graeme Morris!
Gygax's prediction was misguided. Imagine lasted for just thirty issues and never made a profit for TSR. Gygax later said his original plan was for a UK-branded version of Dragon magazine, which would have included about 50% recycled articles and 50% new local content. However, his idea was overruled by the board and UK management, who opted for a primarily original magazine.
We next hear from the editor, Keith Thomson, who says:
Roughly 16 of the 52 pages are devoted to ads, which seems pretty typical of the era. Let's go through the articles one at a time.
"The Beginner's Guide to Role-Playing Games" is uncredited and provides a short "actual play" transcript of a D&D game. It's all reasonably obvious but no doubt helpful to beginners. We then have "Stirge Corner" by Roger Musson, a planned regular column aimed at the "the no-so-experienced adventurer." In this debut article, he discusses his first "bewildering" encounter with Dungeons & Dragons. Musson also contributed to White Dwarf and had creatures included in TSR's Fiend Folio.
"QB-161-01: ANTARES" by John E. Black is a story about a man who enters fantasy worlds using a virtual reality device--but soon learns this habit has consequences in the real world. The story didn't grab me, though it may have been one of the earlier fiction pieces to explore this topic. It wasn't helped by the layout, which put line spaces between every paragraph! I can't find that John E. Black contributed anything else to the gaming scene.
There are several book reviews by David Pringle, editor of Foundation: The Review of Science Fiction, who later became editor of Interzone. Let's run through the reviews quickly. Myths of the Near Future by J. G. Ballard contains "ten vividly ironic stories, all narrated in a rich angular tone." In Viriconium by M. John Harrison is beautifully written, "in language of an intesnsity rarely equalled in modern writing." And The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe is "a deeply imaginative and moving book."
There are three non-fiction books reviewed as well. The Science in Science Fiction by Peter Nicholls is "an excellent and timely work of non-fiction." What is Dungeons & Dragons? by John Butterfield, David Honigman, and Philip Parker is "an engagingly well written work," while Dicing with Dragons: An Introduction to Role-Playing Games by Ian Livingstone is a "weightier tome" and "recommended."
"Illusionary Script" by Gordius is a page of riddles and logic puzzles. There is a solicitation at the bottom of the page asking for more submissions, so the editors intend to make this a regular column.
"The Beacon at Enon Tor" is a "mini-module" for Basic D&D, comprising a well-crafted but straightforward 13-room tower adventure. The designers were Michael Brunton, who later worked on Warhammer, and Graeme Morris, a TSR Hobbies (UK) staffer who worked on many products, including the celebrated "B10: Night's Dark Terror."
Morris also edits a four-page "magazine within the magazine" called the "D&D Players Association News," which used to be a standalone newsletter for the UK D&D Players Association. Alongside Morris's editorial, called "Pan Pipings," the mini-magazine has three features. In "Dispel Confusion," Morris and Brunton answer game questions, much like "Sage Advice" in Dragon magazine. "Rubic of Moggedon," by Runic Press International, is a comic strip. Finally, "Turnbull Talking" is a soapbox for Don Turnbull, the Managing Director of TSR Hobbies (UK) and a kind of godfather figure to UK hobby gaming.
"Tavern Talk" by Pete Tamlyn intends to "provide some well-deserved publicity for the amateur side of the hobby." Tamlyn later garnered an impressive list of RPG credits, including work for the Advanced Fighting Fantasy RPG.
There are two game reviews. Star Frontiers by TSR Hobbies is "one of the best presented games" the reviewer has seen. Meanwhile, the Judge Dredd board game by Games Workshop is a "winner," although the ultra-violent theme limits the broad appeal.
Mike Brunton returns with a self-explanatory column called "Figure Painting." Following this article are two pages of UK gaming news concerning conventions, clubs, and fanzines. Finally, the Sword of Alabron is a three-page epic comic by Ian Williamson.
This month's cover was painted by Rodney Matthews and depicts Elric and Moonglum fighting a wyrm. Interior artists include Ian Williamson, Jeremy Goodwin, Geoff Wingate, Simon Senior, Philip Kaye, Tanya Long, Dani Kaye, and Pete Young.
And that's a wrap! It's certainly a little rough around the edges when compared to Dragon magazine, but there is plenty of promise as well. The highlight for me was the mini-module. Next month, we have the barbarian class by Gary Gygax, lots of game reviews, and a new adventure by Graeme Morris!
