TSR [Let's Read] Polyhedron/Dungeon

[(un)reason]

Polyhedron Issue 14: Sep/Oct 1983



part 1/6



32 pages A ranger and his bear face a lich and his gargoyle. It's nice that everyone gets to have pets, even if it seems like a somewhat uneven matchup powerwise. Let's hope there are some more PC's to help him out, otherwise one save or suck is going to send them to an unpleasant end. I guess it's up to your group. Let's see how much in here is still useful to groups today, and how much is merely of historical curiosity.



From the Editor: Mary gives her perspective on the Gen Con experience. Like many attendees, it was all a bit of a blur, as there was so much to do and see, especially when you also have your newszine deadlines nagging at the back of your mind. Despite the usual hassle by a few twats who believe girls can't be gamers, she still managed to have a fair bit of fun, and get a fair bit of useful feedback on how they're running Polyhedron and TSR in general. It's good to connect with the fans personally. At least, until twitter makes sending low content vitriol to writers every time they do something slightly not to your liking a little too easy. If only there was a way to reach a happy medium between the past and the present in that respect.



1983 Scholarship Winner: Looks like the scholarships are going to be a regular thing each year. This year's 1st place is David Lee Griffith, who's going to the university of Chicago to study Physics. I wonder if he's still around and in the hobby. Well done to you if you are. That's some serious beating of the odds.



Letters: Our first letter sees someone confused about the changing membership options. Sorry, you snooze, you lose, miss out on the special offer goodies and now have to resub at the new higher rate. Inflation's a bitch.

We are reminded that TSR recently swallowed SPI, and our next letter wonders what they'll be doing with it. You'll see a fair few DragonQuest articles in Dragon before it dies altogether.

Our next letter concerns the average age of roleplayers again. Just convert other generations of your family. Most people will try a game at least once because it's fun to do things together as a family unless it's an exceedingly dysfunctional one.

Then we have someone wondering why they don't list a precise date for each newszine. They were late for long enough that they got out of the habit. It's just embarrassing to give a precise month under those circumstances.

And we finish with yet another person asking about group memberships. As long as it's a group of 7 or over, you can. Technically it's called a club membership, but semantics schemantics. Just get on with it and pay the fee.

 

[(un)reason]

Polyhedron Issue 14: Sep/Oct 1983



part 2/6



Two Cents: Our reader submission this month is one of those old canards that shows up again and again, that of roleplaying vs rollplaying. Learning the statistical side of gaming, and the acting skills of creating and inhabiting a personality different from your own are two entirely orthagonal skills. So many people these days have only learned the first one and are treating their characters as interchangeable meat puppets for the killing of monsters. Same as it ever was. Either extreme of play and everything in between are valid, it's just a matter of finding a group who's playstyle is compatible with yours. I hope this isn't going to spark another extended debate dragging the same old points out over years worth of issues. I had more than enough of that from Dragon.



Encounters: Turns out that ranger on the cover is actually just a fighter. (although that's probably due to 1e's very strict ability score and alignment requirements, and under a later edition he'd be built as a ranger. ) But that gargoyle is actually a nycadaemon, which makes it a lot more scary, and entirely capable of soloing both the fighter and bear without the help of it's master. He'll definitely need the help of some doughty adventurers to get that lich off the Throne of the Gods, which further boosts it's power, and kill it for good. If you do succeed, think very carefully before sitting on the throne yourself, as it's the kind of artifact that may grant you great power, but may also drive you mad and ultimately lead to your downfall. Might be best to just collapse the dungeon entrance when you leave, sealing the whole place off to be someone else's problem a few centuries later. Definitely an interesting adventure seed that you can expand upon a lot, or use it's various components separately in your campaign. Just the right combination of interesting details and room to develop them and put your own spin on them. I like this one a lot.



White Rabbits adds three new fellowships to the number of officially registered clubs, bringing the total up to 8. Still a tiny number in the overall scheme of things, but hopefully building up to a critical mass.

 

[(un)reason]

Polyhedron Issue 14: Sep/Oct 1983



part 3/6



Dispel Confusion shrinks it's font size slightly, and grows to 4 pages as well. They evidently can't keep up with the sheer volume of rules questions they're getting, try as they might.

D&D

Can you turn undead more than once? (If you succeed you can try to turn some more next round. If you fail, that's your lot for that particular encounter)

What use is a holy symbol? (Mostly a focus for your belief. It has no intrinsic power without you unless specifically enchanted. )

If you fail to find a secret door, how long until you can recheck? (at least a day, possibly more)

How long does a full waterskin last? (only a few days. That stuff is heavy and you need a lot more of it than you think.

Can you see invisible things with infravision? (No. the lightbending effects extend throughout the visual spectrum.)

What monsters have infravision? (anything that lives underground)

Is torch damage affected by strength? (no)

Do you need training to go up a level? (only in AD&D. It's one of the big advantages basic characters have in terms of bookkeeping.)

Can you dispel magic items? (No)

When a magic missile spell produces multiple missiles, do they use up multiple slots? (no)

Can you memorise the same spell three times? (If you have the slots)

Does dying and coming back cure diseases? (No, but if you have a powerful enough cleric for that, it shouldn't be a problem anyway.)

Can you raise your ability scores by training? (No. What you rolled is what you're stuck with. This is why you start with lots of characters.)

Does anti-magic shell bounce spells back? (no)

Can classes not listed become mercenaries? (Yes, but they'll probably charge more. Supply & Demand. )

Does passwall work on bushes? (No, but much lower druid spells will)

AD&D

Why can't a thief use a bow? (too big and obvious. The guilds don't like that.)

Can a magic mouth sing or scream? (within the given word limit, yes.)

Can you wish a soul back from a deck of many things? (No. Some items are stronger than even 9th level spells)

Can Dwarves become clerics? (Yes, but PC's can't. At least not without serious protest to get us to change the rules in the future)

Can only Heal cure damage from a Clay Golem? (No, any healing spell by a high enough level cleric.)

Can you Raise someone killed by a clay golem (yes)

Can Move Earth affect lava (yes)

Can you distil Mantrap scent and use it later (yes, but the saves are easier)

Can weresharks survive in fresh water (yes)

Can PC's become Swnamays (yes, but it aint easy. Like many things, we'll loosen those requirements with the passing of editions)

Can PC's become a Knight of Quality (again, yes, but don't expect it to be easy. You gotta earn that round table place with serious heroism. )

Boot Hill

How does stunning work (you do nothing next turn, and half effect the turn after that. It doesn't last long.)

Which system do you use for first shot determination (the simple one for big battles, the complex one for smaller duels)

Do you heal damage from each wound separately (yes. Lots of little ones are easier to deal with than one big one.)

Dawn Patrol

Do you have to decide the size of a loop the loop blind. (Yup. Otherwise it'd be easy to follow and a waste of time.

Can you have more than one balloon in a scenario (yes)

What happens if you have 0% odds of landing successfully from penalties ( A natural 5% or less is still a success)

If you take two hits in a turn, do you risk 2 crits (no)

If your wing is shot off, how many rolls does it take to survive? (usually, just the one)

Gamma World

I have 10 questions in one letter! (that's a bit unusual, but we'll do our best to answer them all anyway. )

Can I submit Gamma World modules? (You can try, as we've said to the many other people who ask this question over the years.)

Aren't swords a bit weedy under this system (Only the toughest survive in the radioactive future where mutations happen at great speed. )

Gangbusters

What are the odds of random things happening? (Do ya feel lucky, punk? Well, do ya?!)

Are there other types of shotgun? (yes. Do a bit of historical research to see what was available at the time.)

How often can you roll a luck check to survive? (every time you get hit at 1hp)

Star Frontiers

Is Tornadium 50 credits per KG? (No, it's much more expensive. )

Where can I get more ideas? (Steal from real world sources and exaggerate them)

Can humans & yazirians crossbreed? (No! You've definitely been playing too much fantasy.)

Can I play a genetically engineered superhuman? (No. Again, Star frontiers just isn't that kind of game.

Why are people so bad at swimming in this system? ( For the sake of drama)

Top Secret

Is there any difference in skills for different bureaus? (Not yet. Maybe next edition)

Do you get double xp for two kills in a mission? (Only if you had to do it. Collateral damage is frowned upon by spies.)

Does damage in non-head regions make you unconscious? (Only if it nearly kills you anyway)

How much do you get for fencing stolen goods (it's very unpredictable, and often worth a sideplot in itself. Such are the dangers of the black market.)

10 gauge shotguns are too powerful! (Yes, but we can change that any time we want.)

What does the Quick Reference chart refer too? (Pages 21-23)

 

[(un)reason]

Polyhedron Issue 14: Sep/Oct 1983



part 4/6



The Lone Wolf: Oh dear. Jim Ward has fallen under the spell of the badass brooding loner archetype. So he encourages you to include them in your Gamma World game; handsome solitary purebloods who have higher stats and better equipment than the PC's, show them up, give them cryptic advice, beat them to the best loot on missions, and are generally irritating. This kind of GMPC nonsense is not likely to go down well with most groups, who will rapidly develop a loathing for anyone who rivals them and delight in getting revenge. So this falls into the category of interestingly bad advice, that should be used with great caution, for what seems cool when you write it as a GM is not so pleasant to deal with from the other side of the screen. I think he's getting to the rank where people don't tell him no enough anymore. Dear oh dear. :shakes head:



D&D name means more than just modules: In their first big wave of expansion, TSR would licence the D&D name out to any old crap that looked like it might make a buck. Here's a comprehensive list of them, in case you felt you'd gotta collect 'em all. Candy, beach towels, a coloring book, candle-making kits, there sure is a lot of things I'd never have thought of, and which have no real use in actual gaming. Another of those promotional articles that's basically just an advert for their own products, and lies somewhere between vaguely amusing and vaguely irritating to read. It might be useful to reference at some point, but at the moment I have no strong feelings on it either way.



Artifacts, Relics, and DM Headaches: Fresh from telling us to be careful and nonrandom in our handling of deities, Roger does the same for magical Artifacts. If you put them in your game, you should have a plan and consider if they're the right level and kind of players to handle it. If they can't make the requirements or handle the drawbacks, they could wind up destroying themselves. If they can, consider what ambitions they'll use those powers to fulfil and make sure you have adventure material ready in that direction, but also who else wants that artifact and will do their best to take it from them by stealth or force. So it's somewhat more permissive than their handling of gods, but still fundamentally an article full of negativity, telling you what not to do in considerable detail. They really are hitting that phase where they want to be more sensible and think about worldbuilding and long term campaigns hard. This definitely won't be the last article jam-packed with no's trying to discipline their playerbase.

 

[(un)reason]

Polyhedron Issue 14: Sep/Oct 1983



part 5/6



Convention Report I: Another article with a fair bit of negativity in, although this time it's not their fault. CWI-Con and East Con turn into a study in contrasting problems. The first attracted the wrong sort of audience, focussing on boardgames, so there were very few RPGers in attendance, and they didn't have enough for a full sized tournament. The second had more than enough gamers, but was poorly organised and didn't allot nearly enough space, so they had to cut their booked 300 person tournament down to 80 and turn all the rest away. They're definitely going to think more carefully about which conventions they attend in the future to avoid repeating these mistakes. This is why established companies wind up putting checks and balances in in the first place. No point making rules against problems that never happen, but plenty of reason to make ones covering situations that have happened before, and will likely happen again if not fixed. I guess we'll have to keep reading and see if they manage to reduce incidents like this in the future.



Convention Report II: We've already had Mary's perspective on Gen Con. Now, unsurprisingly, it's Kim's turn. He also found it pretty exhausting, but is able to recall a bit more of the fine detail for us. It was substantially bigger than last year, with a load of extra events added on last minute to meet the extra demand. Which meant things were pretty jam-packed, but people took it fairly well. While D&D was obviously the biggest game there, their smaller ones still all have large enough fanbases to run multi-team tournaments, and the winners are listed here. While they had their own problems, it does seem like the bigger a convention is, the more likely it is to be well run. All about having the right team, just like in the games.



1983 RPGA Member Ranking: As with the clubs, the number of members who've scored significant amounts in tournaments is increasing, but slow enough that they can still list everyone on less than a page. Unsurprisingly, it's a pretty steep pyramid, with the top two miles ahead of everyone else, and then a load at the bottom. Can Kelly Foote and Dave Axler keep up their dominance of the tournament scene, or will some young turk overtake them next year? Tune in in 6 issues time or so to find out!

 

[(un)reason]

Polyhedron Issue 14: Sep/Oct 1983



part 6/6



Ambush on Lossend: Another little adventure scenario that you can easily expand upon, this time for Star Frontiers. In very cyberpunk style, the PC's are hired as patsies for a mission they'll probably fail at, so they can serve as stalking horses for the authorities to catch the bad guys. So surviving this means being willing to surrender rather than fight to the death and being captured by the bad guys, then surviving the chaos of the subsequent raid by the authorities, who will just throw everyone in jail unless it's very obvious you were hostages, in which case you've then got to avoid being shanked by your former captors until you finally get processed and they figure out you're the good guys. It's all very cynical and dystopian about the ethics and competence of law enforcement indeed. Running your players through this will likely wind up with them becoming bitter, cynical and increasingly paranoid about screening future potential missions. Good training for real life then.



Membership Drive Winners: As with the tournament rankings, the membership drive had a fairly small pool of entrants, but the top three places were fiercely fought, and miles ahead of the rest. Sonny Scott, Randy Solo (now there's a name that motivates you to prove it wrong), and Steve Lierly were the guys with the hustle and charm to bring in the most new people to the hobby, and win a chance to game with Gary. Given how much gaming grows by friend of a friend and word of mouth, a lot of people can probably trace connections back to them now. If you're them, or one of the people recruited by them, I'd love to hear your perspective on those days.



Contest of Contests!: Having just concluded the membership drive, they immediately start up another competition. This one's a little easier, as it doesn't involve interacting with other human beings. (which means the competition is likely to be fiercer. ) Send in your ideas for new items (the vast majority of which are likely to be magic ones, if I know their playerbase. ) and the best will get them published, plus several year free extensions to their membership. Should fill another few pages in the magazine interestingly in a few months.



An issue that's full of negative and bad articles, but they're negative and bad in interesting ways, rather than bland and boring ones, so this was still a fun issue to review, dragging up mistakes they've since learned from, and annoying gaming trends that are thankfully mostly dead now. Let's see if christmas is a little cheerier, or they'll still be making the same mistakes there.

 

[(un)reason]

Polyhedron Issue 15: Nov/Dec 1983



part 1/6



34 pages. Randy Solo continues to have to live with the name his parents gave him, contributing an image for the cover that's, er, definitely one for the spank bank. I hope that chainmail swimwear is enchanted, otherwise she'll fall to the first monster that goes for the legs. (An enchanted blow-drier will probably also be necessary to touch up that hair mid dungeon crawl.) Let's see if the insides are a little more practical and useful for creating and surviving actual adventures.



From the Editor: While they doubled the size of the newszine a year ago, nearly half of that increase has been taken up every issue by the same gift catalog with only minor changes as they add new things in. This was …… inefficient, and so that's the first thing to go when they considered what to change next year. This means more space for both new articles, and a few of their most demanded reprints as well. The life of a periodical writer is one of endless incremental tweaks, for staying exactly the same will soon result in diminishing returns. I look forward to having an extra 20% or so more content per issue to consume. It'll still never get anywhere near the size of Dragon, but every little helps stave off the conclusion for a little while longer.



From the Publisher: Barely here a year, and like Frank, Kim is already being reshuffled into another position in the company. Not leaving the RPGA entirely, but he'll no longer be working on the newszine on a day-to-day basis. So as usual, he has the mixture of happiness and sadness that comes from leaving your friends behind because you have to start a new adventure. Fare thee well, and let's hope his absence doesn't make everything go downhill again. We shall have to wait until next time to see who replaces him, and what changes they bring.



The New Deal Deal: After the two editorials hinted at it, this spells out their plans for the next year in greater detail. More columns, less space wasted advertising exclusive stuff, a discount on regular TSR products for RPGA members, and a separate catalog for mail-ordering all these goodies. Bypass that supply chain and reap the rewards of direct ordering. Sensible enough on their part, as even with a 10% discount they're still making more than if the shops were taking their cut. Plus there's the worries of places boycotting them due to the satanic panic. It's always good to have a backup plan in these situations.

 

[(un)reason]

Polyhedron Issue 15: Nov/Dec 1983



part 2/6



Letters: Our first letter is from someone who wants to send in articles, but doesn't want to surrender the rights to their intellectual property. You need to allow a certain amount of sublicencing otherwise others can't use or build upon what you created. It's one of the basic tensions in collaborative creativity that you have to learn to live with.

Connected to this the second letter is irritated that they always put those ®, © and ™ symbols after naming products. They're just defending their intellectual property. If you ain't got respect, you ain't got nuthin'. Capiche?

We then get a letter asking how two modules can be connected if they're aimed at different levels. Characters gain experience and levels in play, duh. If the designer is good at math they may even have calculated how much xp you gain from the module on average, and calibrated future instalments appropriately.

Someone irritated that the cover isn't actually the cover, but the third page. Just basic protection for transit. If they polybagged and bubble-wrapped every issue they'd have to charge a lot more for postage.

Someone confused about how much the new editions of the corebooks have changed. They've just given them new trade dress. They're going to use the same spine color and font on all their hardbacks for the rest of the edition to make them easy to spot on the shelves. Hope you like orange.

Someone requesting they talk more about minis. They did do a column on painting them in their first year. It didn't get much response, so they dropped it. If you want these things, you've gotta push for them.

Yet again we have a request for submission guidelines. Type it out neatly, don't forget your SASE, and don't expect to get paid. It's not rocket science.

And finally we have a request for larger prints of artwork. As with the minis, they're not planning on doing that any time soon, and it'd take a fair bit of public demand to make it viable The squeaky bird gets the greasy worm.



1983 RPGA Network Judges Ranking: We had the ranking of the top scoring players last issue. Now it's time to find out which judges were the most and least generous with their scoring. It's not actually that wide a spread, with the highest averaging 66% and the lowest 45, which shows the system is rigorous enough to average out the worst of human personality swings. AD&D games outnumbered all the others put together, which isn't that surprising, with Top Secret a distant second, which also isn't surprising from the number of supplements the various games get over the years. Penny Petticord was by far the most industrious GM, judging 36 different players over 3 different systems in multiple conventions over the course of the year. So lots of interesting statistics here, and appearances by several people who haven't written for TSR yet, but are going to do so in the future, moving up in the ranks by hard work and making themselves indispensable. There are definite advantages to getting in on the ground floor.



Encounters: Our cover scenario is one of those ones that seems simple at first, and then just gets weirder and weirder. Fight 4 living statues and loot a tomb? Not an insurmountable challenge for an 8th level character, even on their own. But then you find out what they're guarding, and some of the things that happen if you try various ways to solve the encounter without danger to yourself. Which shows the designer has probably already run this encounter against annoying rules lawyers and redesigned it accordingly. They will not be denied! You WILL be thrown into a parallel universe and spend a whole plot arc just trying to get back home! This is a bit irritating. One of the less impressive and more railroady examples in this series.

 

[(un)reason]

Polyhedron Issue 15: Nov/Dec 1983



part 3/6



Dispel Confusion goes back to 3 pages. Have they finally worked the obvious questions down?

D&D

Can a floating disc help you get out of a pit trap (Quite possibly, if it's not too deep)

Can detect invisibility detect secret doors? (Depends if they're actually invisible, or just well hidden in plain sight)

Does a halfling know if they've hidden successfully or not? (no)

Can I increase my chances of listening at doors? (Not in this edition)

Do I have to use the monster reaction chart every time? (only if you don't have a better idea for a specific encounter)

What use is saving vs becoming undead when you're already dead? (It may not matter to you, but it's very important to your surviving friends. )

AD&D

Does a Lyre of building need raw materials? (Yes)

Can you stack gauntlets and gloves? (No, same body slot. They won't fit.)

Can an Ioun stone boost your stats above racial max (yes)

Can I force my hirelings to choose particular spells (No. Spellcasters of any level are valuable specialists. If you make unreasonable demands like that, they'll just find another employer.)

Do I have to display my Medallion when I activate it. (Not by RAW, but if your DM insists.)

Boot Hill

Should I have a penalty to shooting in darkness? (yes, but so will your opponents. )

Why can't I buy a cannon when I know they exist in that era? (Because your DM isn't a complete pushover.)

Dawn Patrol

How do I determine where balloon fights take place? (50/50 each side.)

Can you use overdrive on any manoeuvre (No. Only diving)

When can you make a rotary turn (after moving at least 1 square)

Can you give your parachute to your co-pilot (no)

Gamma World

It should be obvious to everyone how a bit of technology works! Why do my characters have to figure it out?! (There are lots of people who've grown up with computers and still need basic functions explained to them. You vastly overestimate human inductive capability.)

Why do surprised characters automatically get hit (So the GM can kill them any time they feel like it, no matter how powerful they get. )

My GM isn't rolling for NPC reactions! Is this allowed? (Not only allowed, but encouraged.)

What damage should these new weapons do? (here ya go)

What AC should a mutant bear have? (I'll go for 4 for now.)

Gangbusters

How can I get to use the fistfight system more? Put them in situations where they want to keep their opponents alive and/or avoid collateral damage)

Tell me who the killer was in the module i'm playing (Nope! Your GM might have changed it anyway just in case.)

Star Frontiers

Can a planet have green sky? (Yes, but it's not very likely, for complex reasons of which chemicals are that color, how frequent they are, and the way the human eye works. )

Can planets be totally covered in water or not at all? (Yes, and the more we understand the universe, the more obvious it is that either extreme is much more common than ones that are partially covered in both.)

Can spores survive in vacuum? (if your referee says they can. This is hardly a fantastical occurence.)

Top Secret

If it takes two shots to snipe a victim, is that still an ultraclean assassination? (definitely not!)

Aren't some of the areas of knowledge pretty useless (Only if your GM never makes them relevant. You never know when a bit of trivia will be crucial to a particular mystery. )

Crossbows take too long to reload! Modern ones can be much quicker than that! (Yes, but can you keep that speed up under the stress of real combat? The final decision, as ever, is your GM's.)

 

[(un)reason]

Polyhedron Issue 15: Nov/Dec 1983



part 4/6



The AD&D game exam: This time last year, we had a crossword to test our knowledge of obscure gaming trivia. This year, they're dropping the festive trappings and giving you an outright exam. More than half of them are true or false, and a big chunk of the rest are multiple choice, so even if you just guess you'll still get a moderate percentage right, but the last few are real stinkers that you'll really need to know the rules to solve. Good luck remembering the bits that are 1st edition exclusive, and not getting mixed up with the math in the many other editions of D&D you've learned since then.



Do it Yourself: One of the biggest obstacles to playing RPG's is the social aspect, getting enough friends in the same place at the same time to play. Some of them also work fine one-on-one or entirely solo, played against randomly generated challenges. D&D most definitely does not. Even if you have a smaller group with the same number of total levels, the action economy makes one-on-many battles work in different ways, and a solo character has no leeway against save or suck effects where a group would be able to cover for each other and remove them before they're fatal. So this is some fairly solid advice on what you should do differently in solo adventures if you don't want your characters to die quickly and unpleasantly. Even if you let the dice fall as they may in play, you still have to adjust the way you design to get a fair challenge. Don't be too hard on yourself, or you'll wind up putting yourself off gaming.



Star Frontiers Alpha Dawn & Knight Hawks game aids: The centrefold of the issue is a card foldout that looks like it's meant to be used as a GM screen. Like any GM screen, it's filled with some of the most commonly used bits of crunchy stuff for quick reference. But due to budget, it's just blank on the other side, so you'll need to draw your own artwork if you want it to look like a proper GM screen. Mildly disappointing there.