In a shorter editorial this month Ian Livingstone shares his joy at the growth of Games Day. He claims it is the largest of its kind in the world but doesn’t specify what kind that is. Gen Con has been running much longer (Essen Spiel won’t be appearing until 2011) but was it bigger at the time? It is certainly worth celebrating, even if it is just in the UK. Sadly Ian also notes some are disappointed by the growth, preferring a smaller con fewer people know about. Sure, cosy small scale cons are great, but that’s why you set up more cons (which start small) when others become big, the larger cons having built and expanded the audience. Sadly the gatekeeper types haven’t left us, but the hobby grows nevertheless. This issue also has feedback results from issue 32 (from which there has been a regular feedback form each issue). Everything gets a 6 or 7 out of ten, so pretty even. However, the editor notes that the game specific columns had mixed results. Those who play that game love them, those that don’t give them very low marks. This is still one of the reasons it is hard to gauge what people like and want in such a diverse hobby.
On the Cover
A knight glares out from a dark background, steel blade in hand, wearing a helm with a dragon in flight design. He looks pretty set on a purpose, maybe he is about to face a dragon larger than the one on his helm? This is the fourth cover from Emmanuel, his previous ones being issues 14, 23 and 25 and he will go on to do another two.Features
- Droids (Andy Slack): This article expands on the system for robots found in the Journal of the Traveller’s Aid Society (a magazine supplement produced by GDW that is still available in some form today). We get more detail on vehicle driving droids as well as mechanical repair, hospitality, security and medical droids. As well as their stats there is also a section about how they might each go wrong, or prove difficult when operating properly. Very useful for any game with robots.
- A Guide to Dungeonmastering Part 1: Setting up adventures (Lew Pulsipher): Lew Pulsipher begins another series of deep dive articles, this time focusing on the art of running a game. It’s solid beginner advice, noting that the DM is not trying to kill the player characters, and that they should describe what the characters see, not what statistics are coming at them.
- Trouble at Embertrees (Paul Vernon): A very detailed campaign area for quite a large multi layered adventure. A small village is missing some woodmen, which leads the PCs to uncover old gods and secret evil clerics. One of the better adventures so far although it falls foul of a common mistake of having all the GM background hidden in the text and encounters rather than offering an overview straight away. It is also worth noting this is just the first part of a larger campaign Paul Vernon has also released called “Starstone” (noted in the news section this month too). The campaign ran into a little criticism for saying it was “multisystem” but clearly written for D&D. But come on, Judges Guild have been doing this for years at this point! Otherwise a later White Dwarf review among others will be very impressed with the adventure.
Regulars
- Letters: As usual we start with some corrections, although mostly from article authors rather than the usual pedantry. There is some discussion about alignment after the article in WD#30. Another reader suggests hit points could be used to measure exhaustion, with characters taking damage for long walks and exertion, which is an interesting idea. There is also praise for the magazine going monthly, with one reader suggesting that instead of being hard up for content the magazine should embrace a wider range of games.
- Microview: Yes, the computer column finally arrives (so the letters page can put this one to bed). Editor Mike Costello offers his thoughts on computers as gaming assistants and what he plans for the column. This is especially interesting as computer technology moves so fast, and how they might help gamers has changed over the years. In 1982 the focus was on computers doing the calculations, generating “hit or miss” at the press of a button once programmed with all the weapons, skills and abilities of the fighting characters. While it has evolved, we are still doing a lot of that in virtual tabletop systems.
- News: A very mixed bag of news, that does feel like there is a bit of space filler this month noting the movie winners of the British Fantasy awards (Raiders of the Lost Ark won, as you were asking, followed by Time Bandits, Excalibur and Superman 2). Cujo (Stephen King) won the novels section, followed by Nameless (Ramsey Campbell) Delusion’s Master (Tanith Lee) and Camber the Heretic (Katherine Kurtz). But there is some game news! FASA is releasing Gravball, a sports scifi board game, as well as a WW2 board game Behind Enemy Lines. Chaosium is releasing adventures for Thieves World and two Traveller adventures (Trail of the Sky Raiders and Rescue on Galatea). Steve Jackson games will produce the card game Illuminati, which will be a great success. TSR has a new module S4 The Lost Caverns of Tsojanth and a new line of Endless Quest books (Pillars of Pentagarn, Mountain of Mirrors, Dungeon of Dread and Return to Brookmere). Finally, in more movie news, Chaosium claims they have sold the rights for a Runequest movie. I wonder what happened to that. Unfortunately, TSR has done the same with Dungeons and Dragons. Thankfully we are safe from that unspeakably awful big budget rubbish until the year 2000.
- Runerites: Taking a leaf from Fiend Factory (which makes me wonder why Fiend Factory doesn’t do some different system specials) we get two new monsters. The Vrak, who are intelligent pterodactyls, and the Nachak, who are armoured meercats who worship dark gods. Runequest is nothing if not diverse.
- Starbase: This month we discuss morality in traveller, although the article is more about asking how you get players to play a consistent characterisation without the borders offered by something like alignment. Bob McWilliams suggests getting players to decide how moral their character is on a scale of 1-6, and when two characters interact the disparity between their ratings becomes a modifier in their dealings with each other. Very interesting idea. There is also a new tribal species called The Mahwrs that offer some moral issues with a few scenario options.
- Treasure Chest: We get a crop of five rather nasty magic items (my favourite thing!). The Houri’s Dagger is a glass blade filled with poison that breaks inside the victim. The Druid’ Cudgel allows you to stack shillelagh spells on it. Arrows of Hellfire explode on contact, except the cursed ones that explode when fired! The Mansbane is a sword that offers extra power, but if you accept it you gradually turn into a wraith (Tolkien influence here I suspect, but a good one). Finally the Demon’s Knife is not infernal but forces those struck by it to bleed out.
Fiend Factory
Looks like mini adventures are gone, but there is still a theme. In this issue it’s the turn of undead, or almost undead, and I must say this is one of the best selections I’ve seen:- Goldfinger (I. J. Chomacki): A zombie with various metal plates attached by an alchemist to turn them into an undead battery. So they have a touch lightning attack they can also use against those who hit them with metal weapons.
- Morbe (Albie Fiore): A living creature who needs to drain Constitution to look alive and becomes zombielike when they use up what they steal.
- Rusalka (Roger E Moore): A rare undead water spirit, created when an evil female magician is drowned. A nice bait and switch on a party who are accustomed to Nymphs and Dryads.
- The Unborn (David Howard): The spirits of children killed by sacrifice or violence who are now bound unwillingly to evil. They claim the souls of the lost in battle for their masters and can manifest as a dangerous opponent if stopped in their task.
- Wraith Warrior (Daniel Secker): Dangerous undead knights with poisoned blades that turn those they kill into more of their kind.
Open Box
This month’s reviews are:- Aftermath, RPG Core Boxed Set (Fantasy Games Unlimited): The first edition of what will be a popular line for FGU. Player characters fight for food and fuel in a Mad Max-inspired wasteland.
- Cults of Terror, Runequest Supplement (Chaosium): Another solid addition to Runequest, following the standard set by Cults of Prax (and points to Chaosium for maintaining a consistent format). It extensively details nine new cults dedicated to chaos.
- Worlds of Wonder, RPG Core Boxed Set (Chaosium): Something of an experiment, a boxed set offering the BRP basic rules and three setting books: Magic World, Future World and Superworld. It didn’t get any supplements which may have contributed to it fading away. Superworld will get its own reissue in a few years. But with Runequest already covering fantasy and Traveller having a monopoly of sci-fi gaming, it seems Magic World and Future World weren’t considered viable for the same.
