We've Lost Dragon and Dungeon, Are We Now Losing White Dwarf as Well?

Today is a sad day for the hobby. 

Dungeon and Dragon Magazine have each put out their final issues and are now officially on hiatus. For many readers of these magazines this marks an ignominious ending to two of the premier magazines in our niche hobby. Shameful not only because they have gone on hiatus, but for what has happened to these magazines over the past decade. 

At one time these magazines had page counts well over a hundred pages and were filled with insightful and intelligently written articles. This was true both when TSR, inc. published the magazine and when it was licensed to Paizo Publishing in 2002. However, things began to quickly change in 2007 when Wizards of the Coast and Paizo ended their partnership and Wizards took the magazine digital. 

Initially Wizards of the Coast made an effort to provide the same level of product quality that Paizo had provided their customers with; yet as Fourth Edition languished instead of producing more content to bring additional customers into the fold the company seemed to pull back. The number of authors involved in the magazines on a regular basis shrank over the years as the digital magazine became smaller and smaller with less outside authors making appearances. For many readers this was incredibly frustrating as the cost of the magazines remained the same while their content and production levels faltered.

Yet some readers remain optomistic about the break, hopeful that the magazines' relaunch will provide them with the magazines they grew up with and loved. However, there is not a lot of information coming from Wizards of the Coast about what the relaunched magazines will look like, and what they will have to entice disgruntled readers back into the fold.

When I contacted Wizards of the Coast to find a date for the relaunching of the magazines this afternoon I was told that neither had a return date at this time. I was also informed that while the Dungeons and Dragon Insider program was still functioning at the present moment that they did not have any information on how long it would be supported, or if it would be present when the new edition launched this summer.

All of which has left some fans feeling abused by a company they once trusted. 

"Can we get some information about what will happen to the outstanding months of subscription please? Will they be rolled over to when the subscriptions relaunch? Nothing in the subscription renewal email, nothing in the editorial... the little detail of what happens to the money we paid in good faith may not matter to you, but it does to us.

"Despite superficial appearances, I say the above and the following with genuine goodwill, as feedback I urge you to take for the sake of the brand (if not the game):

"Given the long months of broken promises, missing features, and a periodical that despite much lower production and distribution costs was both far inferior to the printed magazines it replaced (including many months of not even getting the basic courtesy of a compilation) and in your own words "looks like it fell off an assembly line", I hope you offer those who have stuck with you some kind of recognition - and reward - down the track.

"Start showing the kind of respect for the community of players (without whom no game can possibly survive) that the rest of the industry shows, and you might stop losing ground quite so fast - which is something I would sincerely like to see. The new edition sales bump will be short-lived if gamers sense more of the same shonkiness underlying it." posted by Anthrope (1/8/2014 8:20:03 AM)

Now on the heels of Dragon and Dungeon magazines closing their doors rumors have begun to circulate that the long running White Dwarf Magazine will be ending its run in February. While no official announcement has come from Games Workshop, anecdotal evidence has begun to mount pointing to the end. According to Faeit 212, a popular news aggregate site for all things Games Workshop, the long running monthly magazine will be broken up into two separate magazines: White Dwarf Visions and Warhammer Visions. 

White Dwarf Visions is rumored to be a weekly magazine with around a 50 page count. Warhammer Visions, on the other hand, is going to be a more robust monthly magazine with a page count rumored to be around 250. While there has been a screen shot of the rumored White Dwarf Visions subscription page I have been unable to confirm that the image is legitimate at this time.

Nine days into the new year and we've seen two long running magazines end, an edition of Dungeons and Dragons is officially out the door come summer, and now White Dwarf magazine may be gone as well.

White Dwarf #4

Another issue of White Dwarf and another fantastic cover. This one is by John Blanche and what a wonderful job he has done. Unlike the Dragon Magazine covers, White Dwarf seems to be emphasizing the beauty and action of fantasy gaming.

All that said, does anyone have any idea what sort of bird he’s losing this fight to? Seriously, he looks like that bird has been kicking his ass for forty-five minutes and his only hope of coming back is that the bird dies of exhaustion or loses interest in the fight altogether.

Got to be an elf.

Editor’s Letter 

by Ian Livingstone

This month’s editor’s forum spends its lamenting the state of the British gaming industry. Time and again he points to the leaders in the industry being Americans, not that there’s anything wrong with that; but “. . . Surely the existing Lord of the Rings following and the Friends of the DM by Don Turnbull impending Star Wars mania would have inspired someone, somewhere . . .” (pg. 3)

Not so much, yet. But Games Workshop will soon change that I think.

Alice in Dungeonland by Don Turnbull

Mr. Turnbull presents his Wonderland level of a dungeon for the Dungeons and Dragons game. There are some amusing parts to this dungeon, but by and large there is nothing here that I feel like should be in my games.

I’ve felt this way pretty regularly about Alice adventures in general so if you’re a fan of those things this might be for you, but for my money it’s a waste.

D&D Campaigns, Part II: Mechanics 

by Luis Pulsipher

 Still the best part of the White Dwarf Magazines – even if this one is incredibly dry. Mr. Pulsipher is able to provide you with enough kernels of wisdom that whether you’re a first time player or a guy who’s be playing since ’78 that you’ll find something worth keeping from this series.

Hyboria by Tony Bath

This article is the story of Mr. Bath’s Hyborian war game that he created based on the works of Robert E. Howard. For those of you looking for a real good guide for creating a fantasy world that will matter to you and your players beyond the base levels explained in the modern Dungeon Master Guides (3.5 and 4^th) then this is an article just for you.

Lots of good stuff here.

Open Box, by Various

Nomad Gods by Chaosium gets a 9 out of 10 from Lewis Pulsipher. Now having read enough of these I can tell you that this means that there are a well-established set of rules and that skilled play (a thorough understanding of the rules and stratagems) is rewarded.

Star Empires by TSR gets a 7 out of 10 and I have to say it sounds like an interesting game – though incredibly time consuming! Has anyone ever played it?

Dungeon! By TSR gets an 8 out of 10 and from what I remember that game is a lot of fun. In fact I think that I’ve got one of the later versions over at my mom and dad’s. I’ll have to check that out.

Melee by Metagaming Concepts gets a 6 out of 10 but as it’s in the same series as Ogre I suppose it should be forgiven if it doesn’t live up to its predecessor.

Monsters Mild and Malign 

by Don Turnbull

Mr. Turnbull presents some interesting creatures but continues to press his Monstermark system. It won’t ever work for me and neither do any of these monsters.

Treasure Chest

A complete waste this time for me.

Competitive Dungeons and Dragons

 by Fred Hemmings

The last of this series and I’ll miss it very much. The articles have had moments where I scratch my head and wonder why anyone would ever go through all the trouble, but by and large they have been incredibly useful.

This one is no different as Mr. Hemmings has continued on with Pandora’s Dungeon and finishes up with a discussion of treasures in the competitive setting.

Worth the read.

Finally we get to the back cover. Tell me you don't love this!

 

White Dwarf #3

Another issue of White Dwarf and another fantastic cover, this one by Alan Hunter. I am fascinated by this cover - mostly because I'm unsure of what is happening.

There are three adventurers on the cover, one of whom has been captured by some sort of spectral creature. The groups paniced expressions are perfect and you know that with that gigantic fucking spider coming from behind that this group is about to wipe. The cover is great even if the male warrior in front has a bigger left tit than the woman behind him.

The one thing that I wish White Dwarf would do is have story attached to the cover printed in their magazine. I assume that their reason for holding back from such a story is to avoid the more direct comparisons with Dragon Magazine which had been published for nearly a year more than White Dwarf at this point. 

My expectations for this magazine only continue to rise after White Dwarf #1 and White Dwarf #2 were so fantastic. I really hope that this issue continues that tradition.

Solo Dungeon Mapping by Roger Moores

Rodger Moores is of the opinion that Dungeons and Dragons, and especially the Empire of the Petal Throne, are ideally suited for solo play. After reading this article it is clear that he is partially correct but a whole mess of wrong.

Mr. Moores created 100 maps representing an area of 200 ft x 200 ft and though it is not stated directly in the article he then numbered each of the maps from one to one hundred. He then rolls percentile dice to determine which map is first to be 'explored' during his solo play. After denoting the correct map he then begins to manuver around the map, rolling for encounters as ascribed by Dungeons and Dragons, until he comes to the end of the map and must move on to a new one; at which point he repeats his previous actions. 

That is most assuredly a game that can be played using the Dungeons and Dragons rule sets and being industrious, but it is not fucking Dungeons and Dragons. What Mr. Moores has forgotten when creating his mini-game is that Dungeons and Dragons is ultimately a game of social exchange between the players and the referee within the confines of a fantasy setting. It is not a board game; but that is what Mr. Moores has created with his solo experience.

Competitive Dungeons and Dragons 

by Fred Hemmings

This article is like reading half a book with all the pages out of order and the numbers missing. There are ideas within the article itself that are worth incorporating into your own game, but by and large it is a frustrating and difficult read. 

For the first time I am actually disappointed with this article series.

The Monstermark System 

by Don Turnbull

I have no use for the Monstermark System devised by Don Turnhull, but what is of infinite use is his musings on Experience Points and their value during game play. 

Mr. Turnbull begins his assessment of the Experience Point system by making the observation that a Dungeon Master should not use a static system as was expressed in Supplement I: Greyhawk. The static system present a situation where monsters represent only a single, set value; which creates a situation where the monsters are knocked off like pieces on a game board. By recognizing this problem he foresees the issues associated with the Challenge Rating System employed by third and fourth edition Dungeons and Dragons where the creatures faced become less and less challenging for the players as they are always level appropriate and there is never a really gruesome challenge waiting in the level of the dungeon they're exploring.

That nugget is one of the key arguments I have read on-line against play in third, and especially, fourth edition Dungeons and Dragons. In those editions the monsters you face are so specific to your current level that you aren't really facing a true challenge - unlike in earlier editions where you could face an ork, a land shark, or a mind flayer at second level. Those Oh, no! moments are missing in later editions and it isn't necessarily a good thing that they're gone.

The final aspect of Experience Points that Mr. Turnbull focuses on is the idea that a Dungeon Master should not be consistent with experience point values. The risk involved should determine the valuation. 

I agree with him. 

Open Box by Various Authors

The only review worth reading is on the line of Judges Guilds products. I really, really wish that I could find these at a reasonable price after reading this review. 

Dungeons and Dragons Campaign 

by Lewis Pulsipher 

Part I: Philosophy

After skipping an issue one of the best articles in White Dwarf has returned and Mr. Pulsipher comes back like a house of fire. This installment is focused on the skill game which was the only one he found worth pursuing back in White Dwarf #1.

He begins the article by stating that the ". . . referee must think of himself as a friendly computer with discretion . . ." (pg. 16). This is because, for Mr. Pulsipher, the Dungeon Master is supposed to have the entire game environment plotted out so that no matter which way the players go what they will encounter is already accounted for; that is a fundamentally different way of running than I have ever encountered and one that is going to change how I run for the better, I think. 

Mr. Pulsipher then moves on to the proper adventure admonishing the Dungeon Master to avoid manipulating the game one way or the other. If he moves the game in favor of the players than he circumvents their skill at the game and if he moves the game against them, by adjusting hit points and rolls, then he maligns their skill. Instead the Dungeon Master should create the setting and populate it with intelligent monsters who move and react as thoughtful beings do in reality. This, by turn, will create a situation where your players are forced to increase their skill at play. 

Fantastic advice.

Morale Rolls are then discussed which I had not previously encountered. Roll 2d6 for your monster, this result sets the bar for when they run. Now whenever something happens that might cause them to run, for example, an obviously more powerful party, you roll 2d6 and if you tie or beat that original number the monster flee. After finally having it explained to me I'm adding that into my games.

More advice:

. . . The referee who, for example, schemes to take a magic item away from a player is incompetent. If the player doesn't deserve the item he shouldn't have obtained it in the first place . . . (pg. 16)

I love this line if for no other reason than the idea that Mr. Pulsipher would like to project the idea upon you that he has never fucked up and given a player something they shouldn't have. What an ass!

. . . Don't lie to the players when speaking as referee. If players can't believe what the referee tells them they are cast adrift without hope. If one doesn't want them to know something, avoid the question . . . (pg. 16)

This is actually one of the tenets of my own beliefs about being a Dungeon Master and as a Manager (which I've been doing as my profession for the better part of the last decade); however instead of avoiding the question I tend to be direct and say either you're unable to tell or I have no idea. There is nothing wrong with not knowing - though in full disclosure I should also point out that a family motto has always been:

If you can't baffle them with brilliance, 

Blind them with bullshit. - Akins family motto

The 'quick thinking' of any military encounter is largely the result of training - troops don't have to think, they know by reflex what they're supposed to do. The characters in D&D, career adventurers, must have similar reflexes, but why expect someone who plays this weird game once a week to have the same reactions? It's ridiculous, and no more realistic than the system I prefer. My method is designed to enable players to make the best possible decisions, if they're intelligent enough. Reaction time isn't involved. The longer players are permitted to think, within broad limits, the more the skilled player will differentiate himself from the poor player. In most situations only a short time is needed. At the other extreme I have waited as long as fifteen minutes in a desperate or complex situation before reminding players that they ought to decide. One of the most enjoyable aspects of the game for the referee is watching the players devise an often brilliant plan to attack some monster . . . (pg. 17)

I have run across only one Dungeon Master who insisted that we contain our actions within the 6 seconds of the round, and he was an asshole. I'm with Mr. Pulsipher here.

Don't permit player consultation when characters wouldn't be able to communicate . . .(pg. 17)

This one seems kind of basic but it's one of those events in a game that happen so often that it usually needs to be reminded to novice Dungeon Masters - sometimes even to those of us who have been running games for a decade or more too.

. . . there is a good case for making Chaotic characters do exactly what they say immediately - they're chaotic, after all . . . (pg. 17)

I've often considered doing that with Chaotic aligned characters but had dismissed it as a wild hair. Now after reading that someone else has done so with at least some good effect I think that I would like to do so in my games for a few sessions just to see how it affects play.

. . . I use the following method. Players must stop for a one-fourth turn while using a detection spell. (Note that this time is given in Book III under 'The Movement in the Underworld' for an ESP spell). They receive information from all around, though if there are many separate places detected, more time than normal may be required. The players may then continue, but while moving or meleeing the caster may not use his spell, though it is still potentially useable and time is counted against its duration . . . (pg 17)

I'm really a fan of this interpretation of the spell and will be implementing it in my 3.5 game next Sunday.

This series just keeps getting better.

Colouring Conan's Thews by Eddie Jones

Thank god for this article!

For years I've been contemplating painting miniatures but have always felt like I didn't have the right understanding of the process for me to go wasting money on what is a very expensive hobby. But after reading this article I've actually decided to go for it. We'll see how that goes!

Treasure Chest by Various Authors

Unlike the last issue of White Dwarf there isn't a thing here worth using for me or my games. 

We finish with the back cover, which is really cool. 

Overall Review

I am still immensely enjoying the White Dwarf magazine and highly recommend all three of the issues I've reviewed so far. As always there are features that I could do without (the Monstermark and Loremaster of Avallon in particular) but by and far articles like Colouring Conan's Thews and Dungeons and Dragons Campaign are so worthwhile that I can labor through the crap just to bask in their glow.

Score: 9 out of 10

White Dwarf #2

This issue of White Dwarf has a cover drawn by Christopher Baker, and much as I loved the last issue's cover by Chris Beaumont, Mr. Baker does not disappoint. The battle depicted on the cover is fantastic and sent my mind racing about what brought that warrior before this vile wizard - wizards are very often vile in pulp novels - and how pissed do those goblins have to be that they've just been conjured up to die while the wizard makes good his escape!

I love the malformed bodies of the warrior and the wizard; it's as though the magic in the room has somehow warped them (a precursor to the mutating effects of chaos?). The only complaint I have about the picture is the warrior's outfit. Seriously, who dresses like that?

Anyway, after being so pleased with the first issue of White Dwarf I have high expectations for the magazine. Can it meet them?

We're all dorks, get over it. 

The Introduction

Normally I skip the introduction to magazines as they're usually a self-congratulatory circle jerk by the editor-in-chief but I'm actually kind of glad that I read this one. Ian Livingstone sets the tone for the magazine by arguing against the traditional war gamer's snobbish view of the role-playing hobby (though he refers to this faction as the Science Fiction / Fantasy gamers). While it's comforting to remember that people are always fucked I find it discouraging to be reminded how small people can be as they look for any thing, no matter how infinitesimal, that will somehow make them better than another.

We're all playing a game with 35 mm figures and our imaginations here - we're all dorks, get over it.

Competitive Dungeons and Dragons 

by Fred Hemmings

Last time we were given an example of a competitive play event that Mr. Hemmings went to, with an initial understanding of the problem of setting up a competitive experience for the game. That provided an interesting article that I've reread twice because I really enjoy things like that. This time the goal is to work around the concept of per-generated characters and the system for point allocation that we'll be using to score the event. Now this should be a fairly straight forward article but it just simply isn't because Mr. Hemmings has a gross misunderstanding of what it means to be a player in a Dungeons and Dragons game. He expects every player to proceed in the most logical of manners due to the time constraints on the game,  but, as he learns, that isn't how Dungeons and Dragons players play the game. 

The whole reason for entering the dungeon is a family feud over a dead relative's fortune. You don't trust any of those money grubbing bastards and they don't trust you.

In a normal game you are presented with a goal and are then given a static scenario through which you must play. There is only one path around the Monopoly board; only one way to win a game of chess; and that just isn't the case in a role-playing game. In a normal game you can give a player a goal and set him in a hallway with two exits, one to the right and one to the left, and be reasonably certain that he will either go right, left, or back the way he came. Put that scenario in a role-playing game and you had better be ready for the player to break down the wall in front of him so he can by pass the rest of the dungeon and go straight to looting the treasure. 

There are three things that I find really neat about this article in spite of Mr. Hemmings wrongheaded notions about how players play the game: the reason behind the players' involvement in the scenario; the entrance into the dungeon; and the set-up sheet for Pandora's Dungeon. The whole reason for entering the dungeon is a family feud over a dead relative's fortune. You don't trust any of those money grubbing bastards and they don't trust you. 

That's so very good.

After creating a situation where you can only trust yourself he announces that you all only have an hour to get as much shit as you can from the dungeon. Then he provides all of you with access to the dungeon through two, two-way transmatter transportation devices.

So much goody there. 

Then we come to the actual set up pages of the dungeon:

Let me just say that is really good stuff right there.

Asgard Minatures by Ian Livingstone

This article is a product review of a manufacturer of miniature figures and while Ian seems to have fun reviewing them the picture quality is so poor that I can't tell you much about the actual figures themselves.

The Green Planet Trilogy of Games 

by Lewis Pulsipher

Lewis is a bit of a stick in the mud - which is nothing new - and he pretty much dislikes all these games for being flawed and a bit crap. I was going to read them for myself but I can't hardly find a reference to them so if anyone has a pdf of them they'd like to pass along I'll review them myself - until then we'll just have to go with his review: don't waste your money.

Before the Flood by Hartley Patterson

This article is about the game Midgard which Hartley claims shared many of the same characteristics as Dungeons and Dragons and was published prior to Gygax's publication of his game. It would not be surprising that someone in the world came up with a similar idea to Dungeons and Dragons around the same time as Gygax, after all Leibniz and Sir Issac Newton each independently created Calculus, but the game he describes is not really all that similar to Dungeons and Dragons.

It's an interesting read though it comes off a bit pretentious; but if you'd like to read a more detailed analysis of the Midgard situation than you'll get here you might find the article RPG History: Midgard from the Blog of Holding worth reading. 

Oh, and the map of Midgard is neat though not really anything to write home about.

Open Box by Various Authors

This time four games are reviewed in the Open Box: Ogre, Lankhmar, War of the Star Slavers, and Tunnels & Trolls. Even after reading the review of Ogre it eludes me. I understand that the game was wildly popular, and if the recent Kickstarter was any proof it still is, but there is just nothing here that appeals to me. Perhaps if I played it I might understand.

Ogre walked away with an 8 out of 10.

The Lankhmar board game review is a bit of a tough nut to crack.

The game is reviewed by Fred Hemmings who is intimately familiar with the Fritz Leiber stories and who is clearly disgusted by the idea that the Grey Mouser and Fafhrd not only do not work together, but that they don't want to work with each other. That seems to be such a sticking point for Mr. Hemmings that I don't think the game could do anything to turn him about after that disappointment.

As a result Mr. Hemmings gave the game a score of 6 out of 10.

War of the Star Slavers sounds like a fun game that is just fundamentally flawed. Unfortunately there are so many games like that out there, and most of them are Story Games.

War of the Star Slavers received a 3 out of 10.

This game is a joke, it's worthless, it's - oh hey, did you guys pay a lot of money for that advertisement that's right next to this review? Well, we'll just not worry about giving this one a score then.

Now we come to the most scathing review of any product in the brief history of White Dwarf: Tunnels and Trolls.

Luis Pulsipher (who writes the Dungeons and Dragons Campaign article) begins the review with a damning statement, ". . . in the USA I never encountered anyone who played . . . [Tunnels and Trolls], though D&D players are everywhere, and I've not even heard of anyone in this country who plays it. When it first appeared in America I said there was no point in it, and nothing has occurred to change my opinion . . " (pg. 14). He goes on to claim that the game is a simplified version of Dungeons and Dragons and that anyone who plays it will eventually graduate to the more adult and sophisticated game.

Luis slams it for it's levity and for the simplicity that the game strives towards.

Who can believe some of the idiotic jokes and messes one finds in a silly dungeon? Some don't mind, but others are bored out of their minds. T&T reinforces this attitude by using atrociously silly names, even for those duplicating D&D spells - e.g., Oh There It Is for Detect Invisible, Hidey Hole for Invisibility 10' radius, Yassa Massa for Charm Monster, ect . . . (pg. 14)

Yet for all his ugliness about the game Luis still manages to find something good in it, but the damage has already been done. This game is a joke, it's worthless, it's - oh hey, did you guys pay a lot of money for that advertisement that's right next to this review? Well, we'll just not worry about giving this one a score then.

The Monstermark System by Don Turnbull

What a waste of space is this article series! It's overly complicated and just a damned waste of time.

Treasure Chest by Various Authors 

What a delight this article is! It starts off with the Needle of Incalculable Power by Julian Cable which is just fantastically clever. So much so that it will be entering into my campaign.

Then we have five new monsters: the Spinscale, Dune Stalker, Ning, Bloodhawk, and the Giant Caterpillar. I love the first four monsters and loath the Giant Caterpillar. In particular the Ning and the Spinescale are a pair of great creatures - and the illustrations are pretty cool too.

The Ning is a damnably great booby trap monster and if you ever have a group of players who are way too greedy I highly recommend the use of this creature to teach them a bit of moderation.

Fantastic creature!

The Loremaster of Avallon by Andy Holt

This is the second part of What's Wrong with Dungeons and Dragons and What I'm Doing to Fix It from the last issue and for the most part it sucks tremendously. The ability generation is weird and the magic system he's using sucks more than a hoover. The only redeeming portion of this article is the Grudge Points.

If a player for his first character rolls below certain numbers on some characteristics he gets "grudge points" as shown on the table. Grudge points may be used for rerolls on characteristics (1 roll per point - but all rerolls must be committed before any are made), or to "buy" special abilities - such as ambidexterity, or ability with missile weapons. (pg. 20)

 An interesting idea, though it would definitely need some work to be implimented in my games.

Overall Review

This issue was a good second and really puts forth a fantastic possibility for the entire run, though I could really do without the damnable mastermark system. 

Score: 8 out of 10

White Dwarf Issue Number 1

On the left of your screen you can see a scan of the cover of White Dwarf number 1. Now normally when I review a product I tend to throw the cover up there just so that people can visually recognize it, but this cover is absolutely fantastic and the scan does it no justice. The two warriors are the epitome of what it means to be a fighter in Dungeons and Dragons: slay the wizard, kill the monsters, burn it all to the ground.

I love the way that Chris Beaumont drew this illustration and the ones he does further in the magazine (especially the one for the Metamorphosis Alpha article). His use of pointillism in the background seems to give the picture a greater depth than simple line work could ever hope, and the motion created in this picture is so fluid for a pen and ink drawing!

 

It is one of the best covers for a magazine that I have seen in years as even without the headlines you know everything about the book you're about to read. 

An absolutely fantastic cover.

I wonder if the rest of the magazine will be nearly as good?

Metamorphosis Alpha by Ian Livingstone

Now some of you may know that I'm a huge fan of James M. Ward's works, so it should come as no surprise that after reading this article that I desperately want to play the game he designed - and what a game!

Interesting bits of future technology litter the ground and clerics who misrepresent the functions of the ship as the acts of the gods parade about the place leading their fanatical followers on divine missions 

Metamorphosis Alpha is huge!

 

At a time when most settings for the game are localized dungeons Metamorphosis Alpha establishes itself as a massive ship lost out in space (17 decks filling a ship that is 50 miles long x 25 miles wide x 8 miles high). Miles and miles of exploration per level of the ship with thousands of rooms, jungles, deserts, and plains in every direction. Interesting bits of future technology litter the ground and clerics who misrepresent the functions of the ship as the acts of the gods parade about the place leading their fanatical followers on divine missions that are anything but. All that is going on in such a relatively small area that this game forces a Dungeon Master to get better at his craft or fall to pieces.

 

Now it's interesting to note that Ian Livingstone is convinced that Metamorphosis Alpha was inspired by two books: Orphans of the Sky by Robert Heinlein and Non-stop by Brian Aldiss. After a bit of research it appears that he was correct and I now have two new books to read (Heinlein by the way is a fantastic read just about every time you pick up a book written by him).

 

It is doomed from the get go.

Oh, and the article has a fantastic asshole line: 

To have a 4" high human mutant of equal intelligence to a 6' high human is just not possible, and should not, therefore, be allowed (pg 7)

 The line is of it's time of course but still it's a great snapshot of a minor racism that some people still believe:  size equals intelligence.

The Mastermark System by Don Turnbull

This article is an attempt to formalize a challenge rating system for Dungeons and Dragons monsters that never really got to where he was going until third edition. 

 

Now the article is an attempt by Don to provide the audience with a mathematical equation to establish that challenge rating for each monster. The goal of this equation is a simple process whereby Dungeon Masters can then select the appropriate monster for the group at hand. 

It is doomed from the get go.

this is about as fun as reading a campaign write up, only without the fun imaginings that come along with people who are actually enjoying themselves

The equations are overly complex and the reasoning expressed by Don is oftentimes so esoteric that it confuses even him (as he admits toward the end of the article). And though he promises that in the next issue that he'll further clarify his point I find it hard to imagine that he ever will.

Open Box - Various Authors

The Open Box series is a grouping of reviews of various games that are out on the market. Of the games mentioned in this issue's Open Box only Starship Troopers sounds like it would be of any real fun. 

I also found another book to read: Forever War by Joe Halderman

Competitive Dungeons and Dragons 

by Fred Hemmings

This article is the first in a series attempting to establish firm ground rules on how to run a competitive session of Dungeons and Dragons by providing an example of a competition and then analyzing what worked and what didn't. Mostly this is about as fun as reading a campaign write up, only without the fun imaginings that come along with people who are actually enjoying themselves. 

I did find a fantastic idea for my future campaigns and that's the Magical Knapsack that's mentioned on page 15. Otherwise I'm waiting until the next in the series to really hold a judgement on the article's worth.

Dungeons and Dragons Campaigns 

by Luis Pulsipher

The introduction to this article is a wash, but it's followed some of the most articulate words on the subject of Dungeons and Dragons that I've encountered. I'm quote some of the best of the article in the following:

. . . One of the most destructive notions I've encountered in D&D is the belief that 'anything goes'. This is fine for a pick-up or silly-fun game, but contributes an air of unreality and recklessness which can be fatal to a campaign, and which in any case is offensive to many players. Inevitably, an 'anything goes' campaign tends to be one in which player skill counts for little, for two reasons . First, players have no foundation to base decisions on ; never knowing what to expect, they cannot plan a rational response. Second, the 'anything goes' game tends to be dominated by dice rolls or referee manipulation . A great deal usually depends on the saving throws of characters . For example, one of the favourite ploys of the 'anything goes' referee is to devise panels of buttons or decks of cards similar to a Deck of Many Things, often involving more far-reaching changes. Players push buttons or pick cards and great things occur. Players seldom do much to earn the rewards or penalties - the cards are easy to find, and the dice determine results.

One may protest that the skillful player can avoid picking from the card deck, or fooling with the lever or button, and so on. Unfortunately, the structure of this kind of game is such that, if a player (not a character) wants to get ahead, he must take his chances. The reasoning is simple . A player can always roll new characters . In a luck-dominated game, even if half the time a player's character is seriously harmed, the rest of the time he benefits to the same degree or more . Consequently, the player who chooses not to take the ridiculous risks may die less of ten, but his characters will often be mediocre compared to those who dared and were lucky. The player who trusts to fate will lose many characters, but his other characters will prosper. In other words, the 'law of averages' works against the cautious player . The key is that the character run by the player does not have to act rationally because it has no separate existence . In many cases, only an insane person would accept the risks involved in cards, buttons, and levers. It's too much like Russian Roulette . But the player isn't the one who may die or be maimed ; in fact, if his character is crippled, he can easily get him killed and start a new one. Thus this form of the game forces players to depend on luck and at the same time contributes an air of unreality to the entire proceeding . Even fantastic fiction, despite the name, possesses an internal self-consistency, and the characters in fantasy fiction usually act as rational, though brave, people . In Dungeons and Dragons, if the campaign is not designed correctly it becomes unbelievable, for a D&D player may, along with the fiction reader, say 'I don't believe men would do this'. Each referee must ask himself as he sets up his campaign what rules and items would seem believable if he read about them in a fantasy novel .

Even in a fantasy game, moderation and self-discipline are virtues necessary to top refereeing . While campaigns may be run on other bases, I believe that a skill-game campaign is likely to satisfy people more in the long run. Some people prefer luck and passivity, but they are seldom game players. If you feel a need to get drunk and/or stoned, however, try lottery D&D the similarities are surprising . Referees must not forget that the fun a person has is relative to what he expects. One group of science fiction fans I know of is accustomed to beginning characters at third or fourth level, parties of eighth to twelfth level and higher, innumerable magic items, and super-monsters which make dragons look like child's play . In a less powerful game these people will often be bored, for obvious reasons. On the other hand, players accustomed to a more subdued campaign might be delighted or terrified by the rewards and dangers of the situation which would bore the super-gamers. A person accustomed to painstakingly working his way up from first level over a long period will feel great power when he can finally cast a fireball ; one who begins at third or fourth level and works up rapidly will need to reach ninth or tenth level to get the same thrill, if he ever can. From the referee's standpoint the subdued group is much more manageable. Players stay at lower levels longer, giving the referee more time to become accustomed to rules and typical spells . For the same reason the referee will not need to devise situations which will give super-parties difficulty, a very trying job at best (White Dwarf 1, pg 16 - 17).

 I'm going to be marinating on that little article for a bit and will write more later.

The Warlord by Steve Jackson 

Hell, we had Zulu warriors with plague tipped spears defending South Africa for seventeen turns

After reading this article I've decided that I need to play Classic Warlord, as it is now known. The game is so fantastically fun sounding that I can't even imagine that it would fall on its face. 

Hell, we had Zulu warriors with plague tipped spears defending South Africa for seventeen turns in a game of Risk so you know the opportunity to have a nuclear weapon is appealing!

Treasure Chest by Various Authors

This article is a wild mix of good, interesting, and what the fuck. While they have the Helm of Vision (pg 20) they follow it up by publishing a variant class called the Pervert (pg 20). At times you'll find yourself inspired, as with the mini article on Poisons and then you'll find yourself wondering if you're wasting too much time on Dungeons and Dragons when you read What's Wrong with Dungeons and Dragons . . . and what I'm doing to fix it.

 

Overall Review

 

After reading a magazine that was written thirty-six years ago I expected to find it incredibly dated and useful only from a retrospective understanding of the hobby. Instead I was pleased to find a magazine that still had relevant articles and opinions that could apply to my game and to future games as well. At times it was inspiring only to be confounding in the next article. All the same, well worth the read and I'm glad I picked it up.

Score: 8 out of 10