March 1983, and a lot of changes arrive with this issue. The most noticeable is the change of the logo. Gone is the elegant handwritten title in favour of a bolder and squarer one, which does stand out a lot more. The issue number now rests inside a silhouette of the White Dwarf himself. There is also another new column for fiction releases called Critical Mass, by Dave Langford and the page count increases by another 4 pages. If you are keeping score, issue 1 was only 24 pages, and this issue is 42 pages long, so it’s nearly doubled in page size since it started! More changes are on the way with a promise of a board game column and a new comic strip (and they are advertising for more strip artists in the classified). The magazine has clearly hit its stride now, and while I’m not sure how early you might have found it on the high street in WH Smiths, surly it was by now.
On the Cover
A bearded and braided warrior takes a moment’s pause as he hunts through a bright sunny forest. His huge horse is flanked by three hunting wolves sniffing the air to seek the trail of their quarry. The warrior bears little armour and rests a huge war axe on his hip while he considered his next move. This cover is by Nicolas Bibby and will be his third and last offering. His previous covers were issues #30 and #38.
Features
Runeblades (Dave Morris): Who doesn’t like a magic sword? As there is no reason D&D should have all the fun, this article looks at a selection of empowered blades for Runequest and how to enchant them (or convince a cult to do that for you). There is still a lot here for the D&D player though given the selection of potential blade powers.
An Introduction to Traveller Part IV, Campaigns (Andy Slack): This final part of the series looks at setting up your campaign. It offers a solid series of suggestions for collating randomly drawn star charts or how to pick the best from your favourite TV or film. A solid finish, although not as good as the previous parts.
Slayground (Marcus Rowland): If only to stem the calls for more varied content we get an adventure for Champions this month (although it would adapt to any superhero game). A gang of villains are planning a bank heist, so they booby trap a nearby fun fair to keep the heroes occupied as well as provide a distraction for blowing their way into the vault. I imagine this might play out very differently with different groups.
The Daughter of Danu (Alan E Paul): The unofficial third part of Alan Paul’s faerie series. After the faerie detail in issue 37 and last issues’ bestiary in Fiend Factory, this adventure rounds it all off. It is a shame it’s essentially a dungeon bash (and one that left me confused over a couple of minor points) rather than a role play/mystery heavy trip into the fey realm. I would have hoped for better use of the previous articles’ advice, but it’s a reasonably solid adventure.
A Day in the Life of a Monster (Lew Pulsipher): A short article that follows on a little from “Monsters have feelings too” last issue. It points out that monsters really have two basic needs, food and a safe place to rear their young. The article mostly concerns itself with food and the nigh on impossible job of dungeon agriculture. But it’s a fair point for the DM to consider who is feeding these creatures when they populate a dungeon, unless they are expected to eat each other.
Regulars
News: A sizable amount of the news this month concerns the previews from a recent industry trade show in California. I can’t find which one this was, although GAMA is the first to come to mind. But while its operated since the late 70s that show was usually in Las Vegas until recently. But if you know where it was in 1983 (or what else was going on) mention in the comments!
Mostly the news is that “everyone has a lot of stuff coming out”. TSR is starting a miniatures line (and pulling the D&D licence from those making such figures already). GDW is developing a Traveller Starter Set (not the 3 books in a box we know and love; 2 books in a bigger box). Truck Stop is on the way for Car Wars as is Pavis for Runequest, with Chaosium getting the rights for Ringworld and Lankhmar. The other news is that there will be more of the same from most other companies, which is a good thing. Although the talk was of layoffs and lots of rehires at TSR. Looks like the volatility of the industry hasn’t changed…
Letters: Wow, there is still a lot of rage for Don Turnbull criticising the Necromancer. Phil Masters drops in to discuss issue #37, and amend a couple of mistakes over his Javukchari. He also has praise the drone vehicle for Traveller that won the Starbase competition. We also continue the conversation about how infravision might work, with the suggestion the big ears of elves act like a heatsink…
Then there is a long rant to defend the magazine from a previous long rant about how it’s full of filler. Just goes to prove we’re still all playing different games. Although I’m with this reader defending the “introduction” articles as no GM has seen everything. No matter your experience you can still pick up a few tricks. I also notice one of the letters is written by a woman. Obviously women were part of the hobby then, but I don’t recall seeing any letters from women printed in the magazine before. Nice to see some more voices getting heard.
Critical Mass: Dave Langford’s new column covering fiction releases starts off with a look at the upcoming Hugo awards. Dave points out these awards are nice but not always a great barometer of the best in fiction. He also notes that there are fears that wandering gangs of Scientologists might try to block vote Battlefield Earth (L Ron Hubbard) into an award. Nothing is new it seems. He looks at three of the nominations for best novel, Foundation’s Edge (Isaac Asimov), 2010: Odyssey Two (Arthur C Clarke) and Friday (Robert Heinlein). He would not be surprised that Asimov won that year. Langford’s pick didn’t even get nominated, Roderick at Random (John Sladek) but that’s how it goes.
Microview: Microview takes a break this month as it’s only in alternate issues.
Runerites: This issue Runerites looks more like Fiend Factory with two new monsters. We have the Sharp Toothed Hydra, which is worth facing to steal its teeth. Dwarves use them for making pick axes and will pay top prices. Then we have the Crypt Stalker, a form of regenerating undead who will not stop chasing you until it kills you. Very nasty.
Starbase: Starbase is back again with some interesting ideas of ship security. Quite a short article but a fair few ways to confound boarders and keep your ship safe.
Treasure Chest: This issue we get three rather fun NPCs. Kor Vlaz Trok, a half hill giant fighter who enjoys the simple life of smashing skulls. Next is Sorella the Virtuous, a Norse style warrior who is trying to live a pure life with no drinking and bad behaviour, but still loves a fight. Finally we have Konun, a Halfling fighter who models his life on Conan the Barbarian and hates any jibes about his size. Good to see when they do this there is now at least one woman among the characters, something notably absent in earlier issues (except Griselda who was already part of Runequest). This is probably as it’s by both Roger and Georgia Moore, so doubly good to see more women writing.
Fiend Factory:
Inhuman Gods Part I (Phil Masters): A very odd departure this month, but still on message. Instead of new monsters, we get detail (and stats) on some of the gods of the monsters, the first of four parts. It’s a fair point. If the Elves and Dwarves have different gods to humans, then why not Orks and Aarakocra too? In this article we look at Fiend Folio monsters: Aarakocra, Bodachs, Bullywugs, Crabmen, Desert Raiders and Dire Corbies. It’s an odd mix but there are some good ideas here, and I especially like the Bodach’s “Striding God”. I must admit though that I do feel it shows up a deep problem with the setting in that the planes must be very crowded, even with just one God for each species (but why do humans get so many?). While any species can have a god, in D&D these deities are all objectively real, not just a cultural aspect. These days I’d be focusing on the way different species worship the same gods of the same pantheon as everyone else in different ways.
Open Box
This month’s reviews are:
- Endless Quest Books (1-4): Dungeon of Dread, Mountain of Mirrors, Pillars of Pentegarn, Return to Brookmere, Fighting Fantasy Style Books (TSR Inc) TSR’s answer to the Fighting Fantasy craze from designer Rose Estes. While the reviewer isn’t a big fan, I have very fond memories of these. I actually preferred them to standard fighting Fantasy as you could just read and not roll dice to fight monsters (I cheated anyway).
- Citybook I (Butcher, Baker and Candlestick Maker), Generic RPG Supplement (Flying Buffalo) This will be rather a popular range I believe running to around seven supplements. They offer several establishments you can throw into any fantasy city when you need a shop or a blacksmiths etc. It would be nice to have more city detail, but as a ‘plug and play’ style supplement its fine without.
- Rescue on Galatea and Trail of the Sky Raiders, Traveller Adventures (FASA) More adventures for Traveller from FASA, who are almost making as many Traveller adventures as GDW at this rate.
- Adventure 8: Prison Planet and Double Adventure 6: Night of Conquest/Divine Inspiration, Traveller Adventures (GDW) More adventures for Traveller again, this time from GDW. Even by today’s standards GDW is rather nailing a solid and regular ratio of regular adventures and supplements for the line.
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