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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 7959411" data-attributes="member: 27780">TSR RPGA No. 3: Winter 1981-2part 3/4Figure Painting: Another familiar article topic here as we get a primer on how to paint minis. That turned up several times in Dragon as well, sometimes as a one-off and sometimes building up more depth over the course of a series with the same writer. Not surprised we have one here as well, as wargaming is still a substantial part of what they do. It's a pretty good one for it's length too, with the writer giving advice based on their own unique painting style rather than what seems most easy and obvious, and doesn't talk down to the readers. Hopefully the target audience of the newszine will continue to be a little more hardcore than a general sales magazine, as that'll keep it interesting for me. Convention Wrapup: Another of these, this time covering Gen Con East and the original one in Wisconsin. Unsurprisingly, this is where they debut several classic modules, Frank Mentzer's R1-4 series, which really put the players through their places. The winning players and the DM's both get credited, and there's a fair number of familiar names amongst them that would go on to work or freelance for TSR in the future. We're still at the stage where it's not too hard to go from dedicated fan to part of the machine if you live in the right places and know the right people. That'll probably decrease rapidly as the fanbase balloons.Top Secret Gadget Contest: Merle can't keep Top Secret going all on his own. They've got to stimulate those freelance submissions if they want the game to grow and keep releasing interesting new material. So yeah, send in your ideas for James Bond style gadgets. Like D&D traps, they may be highly situational, but there's near infinite variations on the idea of cool stuff that might just save your life. Hopefully we'll get to see the winner a few issues later, because they should be able to come up with some pretty ingenious stuff. Codebook: Merle's own contribution this month is on the classic topic of cryptography. Every spy needs a basic training in sending messages in a way that ordinary people can't understand even if they intercept it. This is one article that definitely feels a bit dated, as simple codes like the ones detailed here could be cracked in seconds by a modern computer, while the encryption systems used regularly in modern computers to communicate across the internet would take lifetimes to decrypt using pen and paper, putting them outside the ability of our brains to solve them directly. I don't feel particularly inclined to use it, as the real challenge would be making cryptograms that are solvable by the players and don't just make them give up  or use their character's powers to solve it gordian knot style. It's not the kind of way I want to challenge my players. Mutants: The Trek Droid sees Jim engage in some humorous copyright violation, with android replicas of historical and TV characters showing up in random caches, recreating the dramas and relationships of their past. They can have very useful skills and insights, but overuse may damage your sense of immersion in a serious game. (yeah, yeah, playing Gamma World? What are the odds?)Torel Plants are semi-intelligent mutated Morel mushrooms that use their psionics to sense intelligent life, and spew acid at it. If I wanted that I could just go on Twitter. This does give the local ecosystem a chance to recover, at least. Fluter are psychic sunfishes that hunt by creating air bubbles to suffocate other fishes with. They also have poisonous spines just for good measure. Still won't save them if they ever run up agains undead, which are immune to both.Sorbel are eugenicist humanoid fish-mutants that once again, you guessed it, instinctively hate all other intelligent life and will do their best to exterminate it on sight, or trick and screw it over if that's not a viable option. Coming up with nuanced personalities and motivations really isn't his strong point is it.</blockquote>

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