My first steps into Magic Realm...

[MerricB]

We added the treasure rules into our third game

Cheers!

 

[Ulfhethnar]

Ah, Magic Realm! This peculiar combination of fascination and disgust.
I've bought it eons ago ('83-'84) and several times tried to play it. We never got past the second encounter and no one was keen to proceed with it.
I now of one player group who spent several weekends with Magic Realm and played with up to - I think - encounter 5. Their verdict was: more work than fun.
Magic Realm would be a cool game if someone did a computerized version of it, just like those computer adaptions of several Eurogames which are available here.

Just a passerby. Do check out RealmSpeak, a faithful java (imho the best, far better than the Vassal and Cyberboard) version?
I bought the 2nd Edition in early 80s' Imagine a non native English speaking school kid trying to crack the rulebook with no mortals save himself? Beyond doubts I never made beyond the First Encounter. I also bought the General Vol 16 No 4 but still could not understand much more. Yet I was still charmed by the pieces. Just tingling with the pieces and the setup card I could see a complete and deep but small fantasy world.
After almost 30 years, just like many others, I seem to have outgrown the dreadful feeling of MR and started all over again. The 3rd Edition rulebook and the Magic Realm in Plain English kicked in and I found myself once again strolling in the realm. I was surprised by the amount of information and the huge (and growing) fan base, which breath new life into this "legendary, lost" classic. I have been playing solo over six months and I have never got bored. MR is truly unique and I have never seen any games, board or computer, that have this level of sophistication and elegance. Just a few months ago some dude wrote and posted a lengthy "review" of the game, complaining about the absurdity of the rulebook while ridiculing the combat system as nothing more than a silly and trivial paper-rock-scissors diversion. But then amusingly when asked he admitted he had never played it even once ... Has anyone ever invented a kind of paper-rock-scissors that applies speed, levels of effort exerted, types of weapon (and even its sharpness), directions of hitting, directions of maneuvering, the special advantages and inherent weaknesses of your characters, the unpredictable ways of attack/counterattack of the enemies, ... and the list keeps going ...
The game mechanics is far from being dominated by sheer randomness. In fact most of the likeliness of the results of actions can be calculated quite precisely, as revealed by Steve McKnight's "Magic Realm Probability for Beginners". True probability, math, not dumbaxx randomness, which is the basis of the unique survival technique of each character.
I have just finished my own box, complete with Robin Warren's expansion together with Pruitt's new monsters and even the new counters/chits/tiles/cards from RealmSpeak not yet present in the printed versions. At the moment I am in the process of modifying the setup card making use of all these extra components, rearranging slightly the denizens' appearance, and
organizing a "quick start" guide from the existing resources.