Let's read the entire run

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 220: August 1995


part 3/8


Things I learned at E3: It's Zeb Cook's turn to do some post convention reporting for us. Seems like he's actually been around more since he left the company. Anyway, E3 is a computer games convention, but since quite a few gaming companies are licencing out their properties, he has quite a bit of stuff relevant to our interests. Baldur's Gate and Torment, Gary Gygax's new game Hunters of Balk, (another one I've never heard of, once again showing how he failed to bottle lightning twice) and several star trek games. Fairly short, this mainly drops names, without talking too much about the events. I guess the computer gaming crowd aren't so likely to kidnap you and hold you for ransom. As a result, there's not much I can say about it apart from that I found it vaguely dissatisfactory. He ought to read Roger's reports, pick up some pointers.


Dice Advice: As they did with the two CCG's, now it's time for twinking tips for Dragon Dice. Single theme decks are dumb and easy to counter, a mixed team will usually do better. He who dares wins. Terrain is important. Plan ahead. Make sure you finish a defeated enemy completely. Don't forget to recruit and heal troops, otherwise you'll lose via attrition. If it looks like victory is within your grasp, then is the time to go all out and sacrifice resources. It does look like this is a game which can go on for quite a long time if you have competent players, since you can replenish your forces, and conservative players could get into an extended standoff as they try to build up an advantage. Once again, it shows that playtesting is going on in the TSR offices, and fun is being had. After all, you want people to keep on buying the booster packs to upgrade their forces. If they stop playing after a few tries, they won't do that.


The thought police: Muhahaha! Or how to make sure players don't steamroller over the militia. While wizards are squishy and can only cast once or twice a day at low levels, psionicists start off with a decent selection of powers, can use moderate weapons & armor, and can recharge with an hour or two off before going back on the beat. In addition, the whole telepathy and synergistic abilities angle, combined with their subtle disposition towards disciplined thinking in general, makes them much more able to work together than any spellcasters apart from priests of some particularly orderly gods. It all makes a good deal of sense, even if the requirements for the class might be an issue. This article approaches telling us this in a pretty entertaining way too, with some ecology style fiction with rules notes afterwards. The ramifications of their common powers are examined logically, and with a nice bit of humour as the hapless thieves come up against powers beyond their ken. It all makes it into an option that could be used not just one, but several times with different variants in a psionics heavy campaign. I strongly approve.


Role-playing reviews: Don't look back: Terror is never far behind gets one of those reviews that is less about the game at hand than it is a look at the history of rules evolution in RPG's. In particular, the examination of how mechanics affect mood. The eventual conclusion is fairly positive, but it doesn't seem too exceptional in setting or system. It has to compete in a pretty busy market these days, and modern conspiracy horror is a pretty well run genre. It really needs something extra to make it stand out from the crowd.

Shattered dreams puts you in the role of dreamwalkers, exploring the dreams of others and defending them from creatures of nightmare. This cool premise is not followed up though, with clunky mechanics and cliche-ridden setting design. There are far better games which can do the same thing, so why bother?

Psychosis: Ship of foo(a)ls is a more successful experiment in RPG design. All the players begin amnesiac and completely detached from reality, and the fun is in realising just how screwed up they actually are in reality, kinda like a reverse Changeling the Dreaming where sanity is the goal rather than something to avoid at all costs. It's a limited game designed to last around 6-8 sessions, and makes a highly amusing diversion for a group.

 

[Erik Mona]

Gary Gygax's new game Hunters of Balk

Woah. I'd never heard of this before, so I did a google search on it and your post above is the only mention of it on the internet.

So, yay me (and you) for creating a google-whack.

--Erik

PS: I wonder if this had something to do with Dangerous Journeys? Anyone have any info on this?

PPS: Turns out it's called "Hunters of Ralk," which gives you 41 hits in Google. Gary said this about it on Dragonsfoot:

"As for Elder Worlds, it is being developed as Lejendary Elder Worlds SF RPG even now. It will be designed to accept whole new space and planetary settings and adventure bases, one of which is already available for adaptation, Hunters of Ralk. My group played through it in about a year, but I could have strung it out a good deal longer. "

 

[(un)reason]

Woah. I'd never heard of this before, so I did a google search on it and your post above is the only mention of it on the internet.

So, yay me (and you) for creating a google-whack.

--Erik

PS: I wonder if this had something to do with Dangerous Journeys? Anyone have any info on this?

PPS: Turns out it's called "Hunters of Ralk," which gives you 41 hits in Google.

Simple mishearing or typo, or intentional sabotage? I do have to wonder.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 220: August 1995


part 4/8


Forum: Tim Jones has some advice for Joe Walker. Wishes go wrong, prices come due, ooh, how about now. Get too it. Give them some challenges suitable to their powers.

Alan Clark says much the same thing, but in far more sadistic terms. We sorted out this problem for star wars, we can certainly do so for D&D. Use your ultimate world controlling power and snap them like twigs.

Eric Aune tells joe walker to retire his group. Sometimes it's the only way, and this looks like the case here. He has similarly blunt and unambiguous advice for other forumites too.

John Holcomb is being driven away from AD&D by the sheer bloat of products. It's impossible to use it all, and his group keeps arguing over what exactly to do, winding up getting very little done. There's too many choices, too many books to haul around, and they've virtually stopped supporting regular D&D. It's not good for the company. Ah yes. Choice is a good thing, but the human mind is not equipped to deal with too many choices, and TSR has pushed well over that limit by now and is busily spreading itself too thin. Another sign their public support is definitely going downhill these days.

Christopher Kelley is finding that roleplaying is still very much a man's game where he lives. He's tried to get more girls interested, to much apathy. It isn't very pleasing.

Anonymous writes in, giving some more worldbuilding ideas, plus one rather sadistic little adventure seed that'll make your life very interesting. Take all their stuff away, make them really work to get it back. Many adventurers don't look nearly as impressive without their shiny toys.

Jess Hallsworth concentrates more on game running advice than worldbuilding, but still has helpful info to impart. Sometimes it seems like the forum has more concentrated useful info than the rest of the magazine put together.


Eye of the monitor: Warcraft gets a second review in quick succession. This is becoming a definite issue with having two sets of reviewers who don't seem to be very well co-ordinated. (unlike the minis pair, curiously. ) Once again, it's a pretty positive review, with the main complaints being that the two sides are mechanically identical, and the computer AI is too easy. Going multiplayer is definitely the right course for them.

Machiavelli is a sim game of renaissance politics. Explore the world, trade, build up political power and take over Venice. It does have some amusing play elements, but ultimately falls prey to grindyness. Just like real life then.

Blood Bowl is of course a computer game conversion of Games Workshop's grimdark fantasy football game. Unfortunately, it seems unfinished. The AI sucks, they hadn't got round to implementing online play and intend to do so in a patch, and there are stupid tactical mess-ups. Really not worth bothering with.

We also have a quick review of Inside Mac Games magazine. It's another good example of people taking advantage of the cheapness of CD's, as it comes packed with demos and shareware. They've still got a userbase big enough to produce more games than you can play. Now they just need a few more regular consumers to pay for this stuff.

 

[jonesy]

Machiavelli is a sim game of renaissance politics. Explore the world, trade, build up political power and take over Venice. It does have some amusing play elements, but ultimately falls prey to grindyness. Just like real life then.

It was rather like a Railroad Tycoon for the seas. I still think it's great, though I'm betting more for the nostalgia than anything else.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 220: August 1995


part 5/8


Arcane Lore: Another variant magic type? They are definitely experimenting more with the rules here these days, not just in the books. While not as ambitious as the Paths of Power stuff from issue 216, this is a lot easier to incorporate into a regular campaign, and less arcane in it's additional rules. Say hello to sea magic. Now, you might think that with two different types of water elementalists, this would be redundant, but as we've found over the years, you should never underestimate people's ability to think up interesting new variants. And the sea is more than just water. There's air, weather, and all the various practical bits and pieces you need to maintain a boat. Plus pirates, sea creatures, supplies, and all those things that a pure water specialist, or even an air/water hybrid wouldn't have any particular proficiency with. So these are the arcane and divine equivalents of the Mariner, exceedingly useful in an ocean environment, but with serious limitations on land. Very handy to have around as NPC's, but players should take them with caution. The DM may sink your battleship and send you to Athas. Still, even if you don't take the speciality, you can get some of the useful new spells here. There are quite a few of them for both clerics and wizards.

Conjure Water Elemental is another boring symmetry filler. I find this very appropriate since we had the air one recently in issue 205.

Elemental Control lets you nick someone else's summoned elemental. It's lower level than the regular spell too, so if you know you're up against a big bad who likes using stuff like this, it could strike at their weak spot and win the battle.

Hold Wave is less fun than it sounds, becalming an area rather than freezing water in position. I wanted to make water sculptures. outs:

Home Port lets you do the pigeon thing. It can last for months cast by a high level character, so one responsible cleric can make a huge difference to the prosperity of a port town. Shipshape and Bristol fashion. Come back with plenty of slaves, won't you.

Protection from fire becomes applicable to inanimate objects. Now that's a useful bit of customisation. How often have you lost stuff to fire under the current item save rules?

Sea Form lets you turn into a liquid ooze shape. This makes you hard to hurt and able to slip around, but slow, and naked when you reform. Useful for spying and escapes into the sea then, but not so much for getting into fights.

Sea Mount is another basic summoning spell. It's only useful for transport, not combat though. And it may backfire if they break free. At this level, there are quicker and more reliable means of transportation.

Speak with Sea Creatures demonstrates that specialising has it's downsides too. So much for being able to communicate with landdwelling animals. Oh well, more incentive to stick to what you know.

Surf is a baby environmental havoc wreaker for mid-level clerics. Even mildly choppy waters can play havoc with shipping. And sometimes you've gotta use that kind of leverage if you want the community to listen. Peaceful protest works best when they know you can back your words up with actions.

Swim lets people who can't swim do so. Another useful low level trick that you may find yourself memorising multiple times in your role as party utility belt. Being a cleric can be tedious sometimes.

Compass is the wizardly navigational aid. Slightly less useful than the cleric one,

Elemental Turning is a direct cleric spell conversion. Having a specialised niche lets you penetrate some of the normal

Fireproof is pretty self explanatory. In this case Wizards have to take a different route for their magical protections. No saving yourself with this one.

Ironwood is an idea we've seen before in the magazine. (Issue 142. ) It's less powerful than last time too. I know it's appropriate, but once again, I am bored.

Protection from normal missiles also becomes applicable to inanimate objects. Hell, there's a lot of spells that you could profit from by applying that variant too, one direction or the other. Maybe it should be a metamagic feat.

Summon Wind will hopefully give you a trouble free journey right to your destination, controlling the weather for days or weeks. Given it's material components and other provisos, you'd better hope you get lucky on those rolls.

Tsunami is another one repeated from issue 205. Course, 9th level wizard spells have a bit more leeway in their ability to devastate than 7th level cleric ones, so it's rather bigger and scarier this time.

Waterspout is another devastation inflicter that won't be a huge amount of use on land. Like regular tornados, it's relatively contained, allowing you to devastate what you want and not everything around it.

Wood Rot decays an enemy ship. A non sea mage could probably apply this to other structures too, but that's something they'll just have to live with. Have fun deciding if this one is worth it in your campaign or not. It's one I have no objection to incorporating, in any case.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 220: August 1995


part 6/8


Bazaar of the Bizarre: A second article on elven-made magical items in the same year? Dear oh dear, they really are running out of original submissions. This kind of close repetition would never have got through under Roger's run.

Arrows of Return come back a limited number of times. They get less effective each time. Really, who decided to make magical arrows limited use devices anyway?

The Cloak of the Unicorn lets you get around the usual "virgins only" association policy, and also transform yourself into a unicorn as well. At last! Now that's an item I can really get behind.

Faerie Stones have a whole bunch of minor powers. Infravision extension, telepathy, magic missiles. I fail to see the connection, but they're all pretty useful powers. People of any class would find these desirable.

Elven Hounds are a rather unimaginatively named figurine. You call on them, they come to life. The usual deal, and not nearly as imaginative in abilities either as the set from issue 196.

The Rod of Sylvan Prowess changes shape to become a whole bunch of weapons and utility devices. Much more useful than just a basic werebow

Elven Blades reinforce the "elves are superior" meme by having the same stats as katanas. Superlame and unneeded, especially if you're already using the complete book of elves.

Tents of Elvenkind apply the same concealing material used in their cloaks, and those for their horses. I suspect that this is applicable to nearly anything, including full-size buildings. Once again I yawn.

Wands of Faerie Spheres have 7 powers, each based upon a different colour. All have rather unpleasant effects upon the person engulfed in them. Should be something to penetrate most resistances here if you choose wisely. So lots of cool stuff here, but another irritating reminder of people's elf fetish, and tendency to give them stuff better than other people. Tensions tensions.


Sage advice: Can you cast spells through a peephole (no, you filthy pervert )

Can you raise a faerie dragon. (Why in the name of all that is serious would you do that! Only with resurrection.)

I thought you couldn't cast walls of stone in the air to crush people, but Elminster did. I wanna do it too. How much damage does it do? ( YOU can't. Elminster can, because he's a genius gary-stu. Now stop hassling Skip. Skip answered this question years ago. )

What's elven huntsmen's tracking penalty (only -3. It may not seem like much, but 15% is not to be sneezed at)

The complete book of necromancers thinks wizards are 3 times as likely to become wild talents as everyone else ( Curse that incompetent freelancer! Skip hears he's been sneaking actual play reports from his own campaign into a generic splatbook and engaging in telling you about his characters without a licence as well. Fear not, skip is still The Sage! (oooh, ahh) Skip will hunt him down and put the pages in his mages and a broomstick between his legs most painfully.)

Why is detect life only printed once (because it's identical for both classes. We can't be bothered to write it twice. )

Can gloves of missile snaring stop a magic missile (Nope. Aint nothin stoppin a magic missile short of a sphere of invulnerability dude. )

Can a dustman protect others from undead by interposing themself. ( No. That's a definite act of hostility. But then, you've already broken into their home. Would you stand for that in their place?)

Psionicists can't learn empower at level 10 because they don't get a slot. Do they have to wait another level (Yes. Oh woe. Surely you can wait that long. )

Is a psionic item limited to using int based powers (no)

How do psionic powers that involve transfer of stuff work for items (They transfer or drain the owner's stuff. Thankfully, they need consent to do this. )

How fast do psionic items regain PSP's (6 per hour)

Does a ring of wizardry double all a specialist's spells ( No, only the general ones Multipliers go before additions, remember. )

What does a druid see when looking at an illusory forest (Fakery! Flimflam! A risible attempt at deception! Mistletoe doesn't grow like that! The angles are all wrong. And look at those leaves. How could anyone believe in that for a second!)

Which method do you use for a demihuman's method of surprise (recycled question. Best option, as ever)

Can you teleport past an ottilukes resilient sphere (Sure. It's a higher level spell, so it has priority.)

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 220: August 1995


part 7/8


Dangerous ground: Last issue we had a good deal of talk about swashbuckling. Here we have a related topic, that of setting your fights on interesting terrain, and how to take advantage of that. After all, in movies people do often fight high on rooftops, along narrow cliffs, over balconies, swamp water, cramped basements, and all kinds of other interesting locations. All you need to do is apply a few mechanical effects, and make sure the party don't defy physics too egregiously in their positioning & movements. A little sketch or minis may help with this. So it's one of those bits of fairly basic advice that you may well have already figured out on your own, but it still does them good to spell out. After all, if people make their games exciting and dramatic, we're more likely to stick around. And if there's anyone who doesn't think that's a good idea, I pity their business model.


Fiction: Hunt's end by Rudy Thauberger. Another Dark Sun story here that seems to have been picked to tie in with a recent splatbook, since we did get one on the thri-kreen a few months ago. Still, it's not by the same author as the book, and indeed not by a regular author at all, so it looks like it's more lucky co-incidence on the magazine's part that they got this submission. Still, it has an excellent handle on the general atmosphere of the setting, where life is harsh, psionics are omnipresent, and the only people with any moral conflicts are the protagonists. It also manages to deal with the fact that the giant insects are rather alien, and even if you live with them and they consider you part of the pack, you'll never entirely understand each other. So it's a pretty decent addition to the list of stuff for this setting, which has managed to run nicely for a good few years now. The combination of many small ways that it differs from standard fantasy is pretty well established, which means they don't have to spend half the story just making sure you understand what they're talking about and getting you to buy into the world, which is a definite issue with many of the standalone bits of short fiction.


Do it on the cheap: Or how to save a big of money when convention going. A very short article, padded out with extra spacing, layout tricks and photos, this is one of those articles that feels like it was put in at the last moment to fill out space, but it does still have some useful information, especially for newbies. As a promotional article, it manages to remind us that convention season is upon us without being too intrusive. Overall, I think this warrants a meh, as it's not really consequential enough to have an opinion one way or another.


Rumblings: Another fairly TSR centric rumours column this month. Since they're starting to draw back from the rest of the hobby, I suspect this will be another continuing trend. That great lost project Wildspace gets a good teasing. When will it come out? What will it look like? How an something that had so many prongs of attack planned just disappear with barely a trace? More successful, of course, is the return of Tracey & Margaret to do more Dragonlance books. Well, successfully released, anyway. In other annoying news,. Tim Beach is leaving. Now we'll never get sourcebooks expanding on the rest of the savage coast. And a company is going to try and release a home VR system costing $ 8,000. Yeah, I don't think that's going to be a commercial success. Although given computer's depreciation, something like that would cost, what, $60 today. If only VR had become a fad 10 years later, it might have actually lasted. On the other hand, there's a ton of MMO games coming out around this time, and they're cheap enough to play for hours these days. They're actually an idea who's time has come. So once again we see how high the ratio of hits to misses is in commercial ventures.


The game wizards: Ooop. Speaking of Athas enjoying a healthy life, this is where it really started to go wrong for them. They lived by the metaplot, and then they died by the metaplot, as the changes made to the setting progressed so fast, and in many cases reduced adventure hooks because the good guys won regularly, that they alienated a lot of people. And this is where it really came to a head, as they released a new corebox, and it became near impossible for existing campaigns to ignore the effects, especially if you wanted to use the new geographical areas opened up. On top of that, they tried to fix the psionics system, but I found the new one more confusing than the old. And the answers to many of the things that were mysterious before weren't particularly brilliant. So in hindsight, we can chalk this up as another big fat misstep. How does something that has so many cool ideas put into it wind up becoming so much less than the sum of it's parts?

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 220: August 1995


part 8/8


Jen still doesn't suspect treachery in libram X. Dragonmirth is concerned about getting in..... and out. Swordplay come out ahead of the game for a change. Yamara is off into space again.


From the forge: Oh man. Now this is a classic intro. After many columns of horror at the legal issues and price increases minis have faced in recent years, we have a far less weighty complaint. Bright colours are winning over fine detail and shading, particularly in recent contests! Thats a gitoffa mah lawn moment if ever there was one. Not that it probably isn't true, if I know human nature, but it's rather a vain cry, like the one against the loudness wars in music. Some things rise to the top, but it's not always the cream. If only there were something we could do to raise the average level of intellectualism in the world. Oh, wait. There's plenty you can do on a local scale, if you get off your ass and engage with the community.

But anyway, the minis themselves. A female barbarian with a sabretooth tiger which looks like it would like to make a meal out of all suitors. A quartet of pirates, some overdressed and others under. In similar contrast, a trio of vampires and opposing trio of vampire hunters. I think the undead still have the advantage though. Games workshop have a trio of their individually named standardbearer characters examined. Njal Stormcaller the Space Wolf for WH40k, Varang Ghoulchewer for Blood Bowl, and Teclis for WFB. All are pretty good, if rather expensive. We then change gear for 5 wizards. One is rather large, and has a robe that only goes to knee length, which is vaguely amusing, while the other 4 are a more generic elementalist set with appropriate accessories to their outfits. You ought to know that just makes it easier for enemies to predict and counter your actions. A trio of heavily armed stormtroopers, who's actions are likely to be even more predictable still. A duo of secret agents, who may not actually use their weapons. And a chaos lord and lich with over the top thrones that make it very likely they will apply excessive force to a problem. Probably overcompensating for something, as usual. Just get them bickering and sneak out while they're distracted.


TSR Previews: We go from Players Option to Dungeon Masters Options. High level campaigns helps you go up to level 30. Skip Williams tries to make the rules go to the limit without breaking. Whether he succeeded or not is very debatable. Also pushing their luck this month is the Complete series, with the Ninjas handbook. I really do roll my eyes. Go on, pander to the cheesemonkeys if you think it'll help you. Slightly more cerebral is Chronomancer. Can you make time travelling work in your campaign? Signs point to it being tricky.

The Forgotten Realms tries to put new spins on familiar subjects. Giantcraft follows up on the recent novels to make giant PC's playable and expand on their lifestyles. How does it compare to Council of Wyrms? And Drizzt gets a copycat in Daughter of the Drow by Elaine Cunningham. A drow princess goes adventuring, and winds up being rather more generous than most of her race. Methinks my Aaaangst-o-meter may start pinging.

Birthright also gets a double bill. Sword and Crown puts you up against three simultaneous problems. Figure out how to delegate or splitting the party seems the most likely option, worryingly. Simon Hawke completes the first Birthright novel, meanwhile. The Iron Throne serves as a warning tale of how you could screw it up and lose your own rulership. Learn it's lessons well.

Ravenloft follows up it's van richten's guide with a themed adventure, as usual. The Evil eye has you getting vistani aid, then getting on their bad side, much to your danger. Will you face a fate worse than death?

And finally, we have a third collectible game this year. Dragon Dice. Man, TSR really jumped on this bandwagon quickly and enthusiastically. But not to much success. Anyone know how and why that happened?


Having just said what they're going to get rid of in the revamps, this magazine sure has a lot of it. I suppose it's the usual thing where they burn through the existing reserves before making a fresh start. As a result, most of the increased size went to tiresome promotional stuff again. Still, there is also a definite increase in the amount of useful crunch as well. So once again it's a real struggle to get through the whole thing, but there are a few worthwhile things to reward me for doing so. I can not wait for things to be switched up a bit.

 

[(un)reason]

Dragon Magazine Issue 221: September 1995


part 1/8


124 pages. Larry Elmore turns up again, with a summer themed cover that's as pretty as ever. Summer's over now, my dear. Dark clouds are gathering, and both the protagonists are looking pretty pensive and brooding. Even the horse doesn't look like it's in a frolicking mood, despite it's expensive looking accoutrements. Very fitting, really. As is standard this year, there's no particular theme or hook in the contents page to grab us, focus our attention and sway those on the fence about picking the magazine up. Turning the page to see what's next is once again proving to be quite the effort.


In this issue:


Letters: A letter complaining that they should do more fiction. Ironicaly, they're skipping it this month. It seems unlikely this particular request will be honored.

A letter grumbling about having to pay extra for the bonus CD, especially as the product itself was so lackluster. Don't do it again. They make no promises, apart from not to charge subscribers extra. (So subscribe now. Save money! Tee Hee. )

Another request for a complete index for the magazine. It's all on the internet, being regularly updated. Get with the times man!

A letter complaining about the unprofessional behaviour of their computer games columnists. Fear not. They're being shown the door as of this issue. That'll teach them! I think this is following the path of what they were going to do anyway.

A letter pointing out the nostalgic callbacks in the new corebooks. The artists have had fun updating, and in many cases improving on old favourites like a paladin in hell and Emrikol the chaotic. Course, it's the originals that'll still get most of the glory. Will any of the new ones enjoy the same memorability and longevity?


Editorial: After a mere 4 months as head editor. Wolfgang decides this job isn't for him, and buggers off to become a full-time writer. This is really not what he saw himself doing. Which is understandable. Very few people go into any field with the intention of becoming the wind beneath someone else's wings. Course, he will wind up in this position again in a decade's time when he sets up Kobold Quarterly, but hey, he gets to be his own boss there and top of the masthead. Plus 12 years of experience and maturity can change someone's viewpoint in all sorts of ways. But back to the past. This probably means the period of transition and uncertainty will be extended by several months more, as they get the new guys up to speed. '95 really is not being a good year for them. It's a good thing they still have the rest of the team working away stalwartly in the face of changing orders and budget cuts, or they'd start missing months.


First quest: Michael Stackpole? Once again it seems like they're choosing writers who haven't done much in D&D before. In fact, he seems to be primarily a novelist rather than a gaming writer, which I find very curious since they cut coverage of that in recent years. In fact the main game he's written for is Tunnels & Trolls. And in fact, that was the first game he played as well. He then leapt straight into writing an adventure, and sold it back to the publishers, which goes to show, it was much easier to get into roleplaying back in the 70's. He then had to sink or swim, GM'ing with much more experienced players and realising just how much freedom the RPG medium offers. He did resort to a little fiat attack when the players outsmarted him, but hey, what can you do. Actually, you can go the complete opposite way to me, and wind up playing virtually dicelessly for long periods of time, making most of the setting up on the fly, but that's not a bad thing as long as the players are having fun and you can keep a hold on continuity. It is roleplaying, after all. So this is probably completely different from most people's early experiences, but still very interesting for it.