In this issue’s editorial, Ian Livingstone gets very controversial! He suggests we should move away from the ‘Vancian’ model of wizards learning spells and forgetting them as they cast them to a more points based system like Runequest. Well, many years on we gained Sorcerers for D&D, but the Vancian wizard still remains. However we will see innumerable rules suggestions for how to turn the ‘spells/day’ into power points.
More importantly Ian adds a note about the sad loss of Robert Owens, one of the production artists on the magazine. He pays tribute not only to Owens but reminds the reader of the importance of the army of people who are not writers or artists that create the magazine but get much less kudos.
More importantly Ian adds a note about the sad loss of Robert Owens, one of the production artists on the magazine. He pays tribute not only to Owens but reminds the reader of the importance of the army of people who are not writers or artists that create the magazine but get much less kudos.
On the Cover
A wizard in his magic laboratory works a scrying spell to spy on a hero in the midst of a battle. Behind him, the open window offers a view over a forested land with another fortress citadel in the distance. The artist is Robert Adams who I can find nothing on and this may have been his only cover for White Dwarf, although there are some references to potential book covers he may have worked on.Features
- Lore of the Land (Andrew Finch): We return again to the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant to detail some new character classes for the various Lore Lords of the novels. They are a form of magic user/cleric, and while this makes them quite potent I can’t really see them joining an adventuring party very easily as this feels more on an NPC class. Still, some useful options can be found here.
- Survival (Bob McWilliams): This is a pull out solitaire board game set in the Traveller universe, which seems very similar to the previous “Barbarian” game several issues ago. The player is a scout who has got stranded on an alien planet after escaping their ship in a lifepod. Can they make it across hostile terrain to the Aid Station where they can call for help, or will they fall prey to the flora, fauna or terrain of the planet beforehand?
- Tomb of the Maharaja (S Hartley): A short dungeon adventure set in a tomb complex. The players are asked to root out the cult living there and take the crown jewels of their long dead maharaja. Doing so should cause the cult to disband, although you may have to kill an awful lot of them. It’s a pretty standard dungeon bash but solid work.
Regulars
- Character Conjuring: This issue the character class is The Merchant by Roger Moore. This class is well considered, with their main ability being to talk and make deals, even if the people they want to talk to are fighting. Like the Alchemist, it’s hard to see them as adventurers, but they might certainly accompany one of their own caravans to make sure it gets to the right place.
- Letters: There is a lot packed into this issue’s letters. The argument about what damage oil should do and how long it should burn continues. There is praise for the support Traveller is getting (in terms of Starbase and some recent adventures). There is also more argument over whether alignment is good or bad. Personally, I think alignment is a good place to start your characterisation and still works pretty well, just don’t make it everything. I have to say, many of those arguing against it seem to misunderstand how it should be used. The most interesting letter is from Lawrence Schick, TSR’s vice president, responding to Marc Gascoigne’s complaints about the constantly updating Monster Manual. Schick provides some fascinating statistics by way of response, claiming the rulebooks for D&D are getting a reprint every 3-4 months, although he doesn’t say how big the run is. At each reprint they amend any typos and misprints they have uncovered, so you may find there is actually quite a lot of variety in editions (albeit very small adjustments). The extra 8 pages was just due to a bigger set of amendments that added enough text to necessitate adding another folio (each set of folded pages is a folio, the entire book being several folios stitched together at the spine). The extra detail was printed in Dragon so those with a different edition could still get hold of it. Good to hear D&D books are selling out fast, and while any misprint is a shame it’s interesting that TSR was dedicated to updating as they went.
- Molten Magic: Gone again this issue, although it is alternate issues now.
- News: A lot of new stuff on the way but not much especially noteworthy. GDW and Judges Guild keep up their insane publishing schedules and Ral Partha is branching out from figures to figure board games. Another new release “Treasure of the Silver Dragon” comes with a real world treasure hunt. Play the game to uncover clues to the location of a silver dragon statue. Although it seems no one found the statue, but whether it was because the game didn’t sell or the clues were too hard I can’t seem to discover! Comment if you know any more to the story.
- Starbase: This issue a mini adventure with a lot of very useful tables. You need to get a client and their cargo across a snowy and bleak terrain so they can get off planet. While this is a simply journey there is detail on the Snow Master vehicle you are using, and how it deals with various terrain types as well as how the weather might affect it. All stuff you might easily use again.
- Treasure Chest: While it is only one page this issue, it is a very full one, fitting no less than fifteen new spells onto one page. With that many you are bound to find one you like.
Fiend Factory
A collection of new monsters created by readers. This issue we continue the format of linking all the monsters together into a mini-adventure as we face “One Eye Canyon”. I must say this is probably the best collection of monsters I’ve seen so far in one place:- Brothers of the Pine (Julian Lawrence) A form of plant zombie created by replacing a victim’s blood with sap. A nice and more horrific twist on your usual zombie.
- Cthon (Colin Reynolds) An immovable rock boulder creature who controls the minds of nearby animals to destroy those who enter its territory.
- Cyclops (Albie Fiore) A form of marsh creature that might have several variants. Very nasty though as it can only reproduce with humans, which are also its main diet.
- Dragon Warriors (Tony Wilson) Who didn’t love the “Children of the Hydra’s Teeth” in Jason and the Argonauts (shout out to the genius of Ray Harryhausen)? These armoured warriors spring up from a dragon’s tooth thrown on the ground. Each tooth only makes one warrior, and the type of dragon they come from defines how hardy they are.
- Enslaver (Roger E Moore) A liquid mercury creature (similar to Odo or the T2000) who can control the minds of those they connect to. Tends to hide among gem stones waiting for someone to reach down to pick one up…
- Grey Sqaargs (Graham Head) An interesting form of golem that gets more powerful the more people are attacking it. Designed as a guardian, it’ll leave you alone if you avoid it. But fight it and its strength grows to the same as the total strength attacking it.
- Micemen (Stephen Norledge) A species of Brownie that have been corrupted by an evil wizard who is now long gone. Again, a nice twist and possibly a nasty surprise for a Brownie encounter.
Open Box
This month’s reviews are:- Azhanti High Lightning, War Game (Games Designer’s Workshop): This war game set in the Traveller universe is a little different as it involves skirmishes aboard a large Imperium cruiser. It also works as ‘supplement 5’ and offers deck plans of the ship even if you never play the game.
- Intruder, Board Game (Task Force Games): This game is basically an Alien minigame without the licence. An alien has escaped captivity in your space station and it gets bigger the longer it takes to catch it. I have a huge soft spot for this game as we played it at school and it came down to my character versus the Referee with all the other players (and a few other people) forming an audience to see if humanity could finally prevail (they did, but it was very close).
- Valkenburg Castle, Wargame (Task Force Games): The castle that forms the centre of this game has been claimed by several evil creatures over the years, but now the descendant of the original noble family who built it has returned to reclaim it. While this could be converted into an adventure it’s very much a wargame.
