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They have also had a good response for more articles and expect to go monthly next year (1982). Games Day 81 was also a lot of fun and continues to grow, as does the new store in Birmingham. On the Cover A group of soldiers take defensive positions around the landing ramp of their spacecraft...

I don’t generally reply as I’ve already said my piece. I can’t really see anything in your response that needs a reply anyway. You didn’t like it, fine, move on. The point of many of these is for other people to add their thoughts and discuss, not a long argument of whether I’m right or wrong.

Ian Livingstone reports that readers very much want a monthly magazine, but in return he needs more articles and material to support doubling the release rate! I would have certainly answered that call had I not been 11 and still learning the rules to AD&D. On the Cover A dragon menaces an...

Picture courtesy of Pixabay. To help you on your games design journey, here are the common pitfalls in the journey you might like to be aware of. I have fallen for all of these in some way at some point. These are specific design choices or approaches that often lead to challenges or suboptimal...

This issue is something of a nostalgia moment for me as I think this is the issue that was out when I first played Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. It was at school and I was 11 at the time, and asked some friends what they were talking about while lining up for chemistry class. A friend made me a...

I’ve also noticed as I read these magazines that while the page count hasn’t changed for a while, I think the word count very much has. Each magazine takes a little longer for me to read now, and there are many articles in much smaller type. In some cases a bit tricky for me to read! But back...

Picture courtesy of Pixabay. I mention these trends not to mock them; they are often viable and worthwhile ideas or a phase we all go through in learning. But if these seem familiar you may want to take a step back and have another think. Fantasy Heartbreaker This is often a starting point for...

I get that food is often bait, as I mentioned. But I still think my point stands given that the very oddness of the food suggests it has some function to fulfill in the game. By all means be wary, by all means be careful. It could well be a trap and it’s fair to take care. But to just say ‘oh...

Player characters are wonderful things. They have an array of abilities, talents, and special powers that can deal with almost any situation. But not every situation needs the application of your favorite ability. Sheet courtesy of Lubien Giagulliel Problem-solving can take many forms, and...

Livingstone imagines video games having full motion animation with realistic graphics and sound. It is interesting to note that his description of the future matches the video games we have today, yet they have failed to replace TTRPGs and instead offer a very different experience. I’d offer...

In this issue’s editorial, Ian Livingstone asks if popularity in game system is the same as being the best. D&D is the front runner, but does that mean it’s a better game than Runequest or The Fantasy Trip? Of course not, but it’s nice to hear him say it. The best game is always the one you like...

In this issue’s editorial, Ian Livingstone gets very controversial! He suggests we should move away from the ‘Vancian’ model of wizards learning spells and forgetting them as they cast them to a more points based system like Runequest. Well, many years on we gained Sorcerers for D&D, but the...

This issue Ian Livingstone wonders if anyone is really paying attention to their character’s alignment. Can a pack of murder hobos really claim they are Lawful Good in all honesty? Do any of them wonder about the alignment of the monsters they meet before wading into battle? Personally I still...

The big news is that for this issue White Dwarf expands to add an extra four pages, although there is a price increase to a whopping 75p per issue. Fingers crossed the market can stand it. It also appears back issues of White Dwarf are already becoming collector’s editions. This is no surprise...

With it being three years since Star Wars got people talking about sci-fi again, it’s exciting to see Star Trek finally reaching the big screen. But in his editorial, Ian Livingstone is keener to discuss what makes RPGs so popular. He settles on the way they can be different every time you play...

In this issue, Ian Livingstone defends the price of games, which given the price they are now in comparison this does raise a smile. White Dwarf remains 60p per issue (these days much more pages but £6.99 per issue) and the new AD&D Dungeon Master’s Guide is £9.95 (compared to £41.99 today)...

You are correct, I just misspelled what was in the news section.

White Dwarf slips into a new decade as this issue covers the opening of the 1980s. True to the spirit of self-examination at New Year the magazine contains a new questionnaire to see what the fans want. Interestingly the questions are not just about improving the magazine but what games people...

The editorial this issue is about awards in the industry. At this time there isn’t much for role-playing and many awards are still shared with wargames. Ian Livingstone mentions the Charles Roberts (founder of Avalon Hill) Awards, still running up to 2020 but very much awards for wargaming games...

This issue, editor Ian Livingstone talks about conventions and how the large three-day affairs in the US don’t seem to be mirrored in the UK where our cons are still one day events. I suspect the smallness of the UK in comparison that lets you travel somewhere and back in a day might have...