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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 7995873" data-attributes="member: 27780">Polyhedron Issue 12: May/Jun 1983part 5/6Basically Speaking: This column reminds us that a big part of Basic D&D, which AD&D does less of, weirdly enough, is becoming a domain ruler at Name Level, and getting to command armies. It's somewhat of a problem, then, that they don't have a native system for mass combat yet, and won't until the Companion set is released next year. So they suggest you use the Swords & Spells miniatures combat rules (Also by TSR :teeth ting<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> and build your army in that if you really want to do larger scale battles. If not, just abstract most of the NPC's, and use the battle as a backdrop for the actions of the characters. So this illustrates that the rules really aren't there to support some of the things they want to do yet, and also that you shouldn't use the game rules as physics of the universe, because they're not designed with enough rigour and flexibility, and will throw up stupid results or break. Give it a few more editions. They will get better, honest guv!Knight Hawks - A New Dimension: A couple of issues ago, we had someone complaining that there were no rules for ship-to-ship combat in Star Frontiers. They said then there was a supplement coming for that, and here it is! Interestingly, it's not just a supplement, but a standalone minis game as well, that can combine with the RPG to create a greater whole, as presumably they think it'll sell better marketed that way. As usual for their core products, it's a boxed set with dice, counters, mapsheet, introductory adventure, and everything else you need to get going in one package. A fairly standard bit of promotion. They may not have paid averts in here, but this serves essentially the same purpose. Mapping from Square One pt 3: The final part in this series is somewhat of a postscript, not giving us any new symbols for our maps, but serving to remind us that the map is not the territory. While you need to get the angles right, especially if it doesn't follow the grid precisely, you don't need to include every tiny knobbly bit in a cave system. As long as you describe things accurately enough to map, it's the players fault if they fail to do so and get lost later because they weren't paying attention. A DM should be fair, but not nice. Nothing essential here, unlike the first two, you can skip it without feeling you're missing anything. Notes for the Dungeon Master: Gary takes this column over from Frank, and changes the topic completely. In the old days, he used to design things starting with a big dungeon, and then gradually going outwards as the players levelled up and needed new challenges. Now, he finds things work better long-term if you start with basic postulates, and then zoom in, creating details about the universe, solar system, world, continent, country, and then the first town & dungeon. It takes a bit longer that way around, but you're less likely to paint yourself into a corner and make something that falls apart when PC's start poking the physics, economics, demographics, weather patterns, etc. As with his last bit of advice, this is actually pretty good, if somewhat padded out by the verbosity of his distinctive writing style. Think big and shoot for the stars, because even if you fail you'll still get further than if you'd set a small goal in the first place.</blockquote>

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