Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Build
own
Deck-building
for beginners
Virtual World
Battletech
in cyberspace
Skeletons
How roleplaying
10), w a s born
e
9HArDOWrIST
t6iNDiftNG9flut
Demons, gunsLnutants
and kung-fu 9collide
0-
in our feature review
Also reviewed this issue • Everway • Dragon Dice • Necromunda • Faeries
Vampire: TES • AD&D High Level • Changeling • Birthright • Cybertech
Heroes of Might & Magic CD-ROM • Campaign Cartographer 9 7 7 101
3 6 0I 7 I4 7I0 0 31 1
Skypoint & Vivane • Thunderscape CD-ROM • And much more...
'tour purantee
o f value
O f DECEMBER PREMIERE ISSUE L-3
:st
' 4,4014.4.
)r phone us using one of our local call rate hotline numbers and quoting RCN. 0 3 4 5 1 2 5 5 9 9 (UK), + 4 4 I
Wizards of the Coast UK Ltd. P.O. Box 1562, Glasgow 620 8BW. Card art © Scott nistbort
eflCOMITER
THE FATES OF
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UpFront elcome home, welcome to the That's why we've gone to such
comments or
l o l f you have any
suggestions about how
first issue of arcane. lengths to make this magazine the best we the magazine could be
I've wanted t o see this possibly can. We've stayed up late so that improved, please get in
magazine for years. Sixteen years we can talk to games companies around touch with me and let
in fact. That's how long I've been the world, we've scoured the Internet for me know. We're not too
aroleplayer. And in all that time, there's snippets o f news, we've spent hours proud to change
never been a gaming magazine quite like playing games, we've lost our minds and
this one. only found them several hours later that becomes as much a part of your life
What makes arcane different? Our behind the fridge. as it has ours. Something that we all look
philosophy, that's what. We think there's We've also managed to take the time forward to every month.
more to gaming than turning up once a to find some cracking artists and top I hope you enjoy reading arcane as
week at your friend's house for a game writers to work for us. Artists with vision much as we've all enjoyed making it.
and then going home again. We think that and flair. Writers with years of experience
gaming's something to be passionate and dedication to this great hobby of ours. Steve Faragher
about. It's something to talk about and We hope that all this hard work has Editor
argue about. turned into something good. Something sfaragher@futurenet.co.uk
arcane Illustration David Atkinson, Micky Or if you want to talk serious The subscription rate for 12 issues is:
30 Monmouth Street, Bath BA1 2BW Booth, Simon Chittenden, business you need... UK £30
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If you want to comment on arcane, Tom Green Circulation Manager trademarks and copyrights. Where possible
or if you have any questions about Management we acknowledge the copyright holder, If there
our editorial policy write to... If you would like to subscribe Joint Managing Director any oversights, please contact us.
sfaragher@futurenetcauk subscriptions), please telephone Chairman Nick Alexander arcane Printed in the UK by
01225 822511 TPL Printers (UK) Ltd
I t l f r t M l y Butcher Features Editor
abutcher@futurenet.cauk o r fax 01458 274378 Production ABC Member of the Audit Bureau
This first issue of arcane was only Future Publishing Production manager
possible thanks to... Freepost BS4900 Fiona Milne Main cover image c 1995 Phil Hale
Lee Brimmicombe-Wood, M a r k TA11 7BR Emma Woodward This issue would have been impossible without„.
Donald, Dan Joyce, Gideon Or turn to page 79 Print Services Manager The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The
Kibblewhite, Jonathan Nash, Karen Matthew Parker Carpenters, and Maria's tea.
Newis, Damien Noonan, Jonathan If you want to book an advert in Paper Controller
Palmer, Paul Pettengale, Cliff arcane you need to talk to one of Fiona Deane This issue would have been a lot easier
Ramshaw, Andrew Rilstone, Ben Rodd, these guys... Pre-Press Services Manager vehicles.
, Card mania
Man the barricades, the next great
American cultural assault is on the
way. And this time it's Magic...
The three
Heresy: Kingdom Come ....Last Unicorn Games
Highlander The Card Game T h u n d e r Castle
Spelifire. We're sorry, TSR, Hyborian Gates C a r d z Distribution Inc
but this was the most blatant Illuminati: New World Order S t e v e Jackson
games o
system sucks big time. A definite Magic: The Gathering W O T C
candidate for euthanasia, and the Middle Earth: The Wizards I C E
only card game with unopened Moons Of Khadar V a l k y r i e Games
11111111M,
grgup
= 1 1 1 • 1 M . 1 . . . M . M M . I 1 A 1 1 1 \ l h 1 F t
spending 26 hours on a greyhound introductory scenario. So how does James feel about
set up a complete religion and FRUPas it nears completion? "I'm
society based on the bus. Suddenly out of the blue the
material contained idea came to me: what would pleased with the way it's been going.
within them. happen in a world where It won't just be a collection of jokes;
There are rumours it should be a playable game. I'm
If you could Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks
fell from the sky and people took ' t h a t FRUP is a particularly pleased with the magic
imagine that, you're
• them as a message from the Gods? I diceless system. system and the whole theology:'
What arcane has seen of FRUP
was in an strange frame of mind. It's not it's iust
"The only person I really that the characters has certainly impressed us (yes, we
mentioned it to was Steve Jackson at a have to roll dice, lost some tea through our noses).
games convention not the players. We particularly enjoyed the way that
sometime in the early while the monsters in the game
'90s. He laughed so appear to be
hard that beer came intelligent, they're
out of his nose slaughtered wholesale
Despite having by the people of FRUP
the idea five years for their experience
ago, it wasn't until point value. And the
earlier this year that way that the officials
in FRUP are known as
James started work
on it. It's been 'rules lawyers', and
the fact that the
absolutely his own
project, and he's highest official in the
land is known as 'The
written everything
Surrogate Referee' (or
'The SR for short).
All the artwork in FRUP will
reflect the serious, academic
This is certainly
agame to look out for
nature of the game as we can
- just be careful with
plainly see in this charming
illustration here. Illostrationi Ralph Horsley C Hogshead Publishing your drink.
i•••••
Illustrabonz Lee Brirninicombe-Wood C Hogshead Publishing
_10
omelan s,
newest limited-edition
card set for C C M bringsyou
a forgotten world, hidden away for generation
by a mysterious wizard. Discover the
extraordinary secrets w i n , an discover
all that is Homelands.
Virtual World
Rumours of hundred-foot high robots rampaging around central
London caused us to rush immediately to the scene
• • • •
NESTLED ON THE LOWEST level of simulator research, enabling players to
• • • London's Trocadero entertainment enter the world of Battletech for 'real'.
they thought of
4 F E v e r since • • •
Battleiech, FASA's 40 centre, in the heart of Picadilly Circus, Created by Jordan K Weisman and Ross
• •
founders have wanted is a place you'd be forgiven for thinking Babcock (founding fathers of games
• •
it to be a head-to-head • • was, at a first glance, an upmarket studio FASA and co-designers of the
computer simulation. : yuppie pub with an aviation motif. A original Battletech wargame), Virtual
Unfortunately they
closer look reveals an attraction far World brought one of the gaming
had to wait several more engaging and interactive than its world's most successful combat
years for technology neighbours Emaginator and Alien War. systems from tabletop and dice status
to catch up with Welcome to Virtual World, gateway to to a wholly interactive medium. In the
their ambitions. exploration and adventure... five years since, the company has
Back in 1990 the first Virtual opened over a dozen sites in the
World site opened in Chicago using United States, Canada, Japan and now
technology spun-off from military flight the United Kingdom.
- -
16,
STRICTLYSPEAKING it might not have Raven, the people behind Heretic, Hexen
been roleplaying, but Heretic, the fantasy offers even more first person 3D exploration
version of Doom, certainly was a lot of fun. and combat with a new version of the Doom
game engine. with the standard multiplayer options (where
Anyone with a taste for ceaseless carnage will
The biggest change is the addition of each player can be a different class) and a
be pleased to hear that the sequel, Hexen, is
three different character classes. Rather than non-linear level structure, and id has probably
nearly finished. Developed for id Software by
being stuck with a single character and one got its hands on the best hack-'em-up ever.
set of weapons, players can now choose to Hexen will be released in December by
be a Fighter, Cleric or Mage. Each class has id Software. More information and a playable
its own characteristics (Fighters are faster demo can be found on the World Wide Web
moving than Mages, for example), and its own at http://www.idsoftware.com/
range of death-dealing
implements, each with
different advantages. Each
class also makes different use
of the various items and
power ups to be found
scattered about the levels.
On top of that the
graphics have been
completely overhauled,
allowing for even more cool •
effects, such as smashing
windows and leaves blowing
in the wind, and much 1LID
improved sound. Top it off
itivewl;e-7,ist
'bibleCard d
Banemaster: The AdventureTM is unique. It's
the only truly role playing collectible card game
with,TWO different decks. Banemaster is also
about story telling. Players say what they're
doing, how they're attacking and defending, and
the Banemaster gloats 4Nover h i s triumphstand
trickery. N I n 1 4
'
InNomine
Steve Jackson Games 1995
The lone
gctolurtai returng
Bushido to be released in a new edition
GREAT NEWS FOR ALL NOSTALGIC GAMERS who harken back to the good
old days when every enemy was a goblin and every action was resolved with a
dice, is that Bushido, the game of Japanese adventuring, is to be re-released.
Bushido is a roleplaying game set in feudal Japan and filled with samurai,
ninja, wandering priests and unusual monsters. It was originally published by
Fantasy Games Unlimited who also released Aftermath and Daredevil and
mysteriously disappeared from the scene a few years ago.
It is now to be republished in a new edition by another American
company, Gold Rush Games of California.
"The second edition of the game, published in 1981, has been out of
print for over a decade, " said Mark Arsenault of Gold Rush. "Of the few game
that have been published in this genre, Bushido is far and away the best:
, Steve Jackson Carnes 1995
Bold words indeed, but as long time fans of the game, we can't wait to
get our hands on a review copy sometime in the new year.
d 6 s i v•- 0
many races that will already be familiar to booster packs - that's 480
Magic players and it resembles Fallen cards! In addition, five
Empires in that races are associated with runners-up will receive a 4S.
a specific colour. Red, for example, has Wizards of the Coast goody
ui
several types of Minotaur, while Green bag packed full of great stuff. sat
Pmm. .
has many Faeries.
As well as new creatures, there's What do I have to do? 3or
•4•40.1..,
Homelands
others - just bear in mind that this is a 1. Closing date for entries is 30 December.
A special Homelands sealed-deck
world that was once a part of Dominia, 2. All entries will be judged by the editor and Chez Elliot,
tournament was held at the 'Magic: The
Gathering 1' event in New York City but has been cut off for hundreds of managing director of Wizards of the Coast UK Their
Wizards of the Coast discover decisions will be final. and no correspondence will be
recently, and reactions from the players years, so that many of the races and
a hidden world... entered into
involved were very positive. Wizards of names are similar, but the specific
creatures and spells have changed and 3. Employees of Future Publishing or Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast are preparing to the Coast claim that Homelands is the
evolved over the years. Likewise, we're are not permitted to enter, no matter how much they want
release the latest expansion set for most balanced expansion set yet
to. So there.
released for M:TG and has the best- not looking for the best artwork, but the
Magic: The Gathering. Homelands adds
over 100 new cards to the game, all of developed and richest background. best-designed card, so don't worry if you
Homelands will be released in November, can't draw. It's the idea and how well the
them coming from a new world in the
with eight-card booster packs priced at card fits in with the rest of Magic: The
Magic setting.
The story behind the cards is that a 1.30 each. Gathering that's important.
from the planeswalkers for centuries. Well, maybe not an entire world, but a country roads competition',
pretty significant chunk of one. To arcane, Future Publishing Ltd, 30
When he died, though, the enchantment
celebrate the release of the Homelands Monmouth Street, Bath BA1
was broken: and now planeswalkers
have rediscovered his world, allowing expansion, Wizards of the Coast have 2BW, England, and make sure
teamed up with arcane to offer you the that we get them before
players to add the cards to their decks.
chance to win a whole box of Homelands December 30th 1995.
Homelands contains new examples of
touches to CC-Fonts 1, a disk of 28 text and f l 0.95 respectively. Neither can be 3. What is the name of Michael
niellirtwe L a n g , i n i p n l 4 w W 8 1,(AriMuoti . ,
aktilioe t
used without Campaign Cartographer. Moorcock's Eternal City, which exists on . • t h - 0 0 C N
11,..114 S E 1 , S N S
Aro-rilv 8/2,14 iiilY1.4-1. j Win! 13uddin9 city plcinners The first five entries pulled Out of a tletwol '
will be pleciged to hearthat convenient container will have a copy of
ProFantasy Software is offering five arcane the software winging its way through the
4i„_,til, i Comet' chw.t..9 own.
readers the chance to own a copy of post to them before you can say a Ian
..rtr 1 . v E 3 0 ,
i s J a ' ' ''•-1,,.hartnel Campaign Cartographer complete with the relatively short phrase. Post or e-mail your ssaa, so'
- W o l t s
•41tb
4 1i4, t i AAra. answers to 'Third left after the Rampant
4 _ --I' x ORAF new City Designer expansion. In no time at Olvta MONO*
4 4 4 4 4 , ---- l l , SEA all you'll be creating vast continents and Unicorn, then straight on competition', 4 k 1 .
PcHEVV43111119 o f PCSIttmScREENsA
moRe tHaN Just a scReeNsaveR, t a k e a weLL eaRNeo BReak aND emBaRk
ON a m a g i c a L , m y s t i c a L voyage i N t o tHe muLtiveRse o f tHe
A D VA N C E D D U N G E O N S G D R A G O N W game WORLD. tRaveL 13y
f o o t , H O R S E O R p e g a s u s t H R O U S H s e v e N o f t H e W O R L D S o f tSR O N a 9 y e s t
1
to mscoveR New pLaces, peppLe, moNsteRs aND DRagoNs.
WIN 0 9 0 0 0
• tReasuRe Hum wRitteN By DaN James
OR Receive an oRiginaL
aND JOHN woRsLey o f "tReasuRe"
Book fame piece o f r s i t aRtwoRk
• o v e R t w o HUNDROD a w e INSpIRINg
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• compeLLINg aND iNtRicate puzzLes —
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• avaiLaBLe ON pc CD-Rom
Copyright 01995 TSR, Inc. All rights reserved. RIDDLE OF THE RUNES. THE WORLDS OF TSR,
ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and the ISR Logo are trademarks owned by TSR. Inc. and used
under licence. U.S. Gold is a registered trademark of U.S. Gold Ltd. ••Attenfion to Detail Limited. Copydght
1095." Promoter: U.S. Gold Ltd., f o r competition rules and conditions sends SAE to U.S. Gold Customer
Services, Units 2/3 Nolford Way, Holford, Birmingham 86 7AX. Tel: 0121 625 3366. Closing date: 31/05196.
A DIVISION OF CENTREGOLD PLC Promotion open to UK residents only.
h
1W1inity
beckong General Sites
wooden's RPG Site
JUSTABOUT EVERYONE must be aware into, you're virtually guaranteed to find a Sites Sorted by Game
• Eternal Soldier
of the Internet by now. TV shows, vast amount of interesting stuff. Take • 2070
•
• ADAD EV___CP_EF.
Sunday supplement magazines, Shadowrun, for example. There are • Amber • FI_JDEI
• Fortiotten F l a w ,
• ARIA
newspapers and radio shows have all several mailing lists dealing with yarious •
•
•
jumped on the bandwagon and rattled facets of the game and a Usenet • Batilelords o f Me 23rd
•
Heavy Ordnance
Century FIERO Sinstem
on about the wonders of the information Newsgroup that receives up to 100 • Blood Dawn
• Immortal
• Imperi
revolution (or something similar). The messages a day. In addition there are • Buslado
• C a l l of Ciltalha
problem, of course, is that such literally dozens of Web sites dedicated to • Castle Falkenstein • I n Vomine
• Cathay Arts of • Kali
coverage very rarely tells you anything the game, and between them and the • Laga
FTParchives at various • Champions • L i s i n p Steel
Hot gite
W o r l d Wide
What? Okay,
so just about
everybody knows
that the Internet is a
vast network of
computers spanning
THESEARE TWO of the HEREARE TWO of the more esoteric the globe. But what CICOIllt.: F t ' J O N \ land
most useful World Wide sites around, just to give you an idea do they mean when
Web sites for roleplayers of the variety that's out there. Links to they talk about FTP
Dd
i Magazhtes
that we've found. both of these (and many, many more) or Usenet? Here's
Companies will be appearing on the arcane web the quick arcane
Wine Stores
Wood W'g pages soon. guide to the most
9hadowland
.7locy o n . ere mon vows loom o n o . ° owl WO OPOCKW 7 6 , . . . 1 . 11 . 1 IV p . m ( ootor,
other roleplaying resources, as well as Protocol, a way to, ,Soiontio olot ocoomo 7 1 1 . O c o e e .
. . . A fordo On 711elo n o u t r i a
O
n
t
o
t
l e o
s o . . . o f dor w h e r e , .
l rim eorolo.
news and release schedules for several As anyone familiar with Shadowrun will erm, transfer files
v 4 , . foam*. 7 1 , . . • 7 1 , . . . r a d o l e o , c . o . , oosi cloo.h . p h p a . . . . t o o . l . : N e r e
of the major publishers. know, nearly all of the game's from one computer
ool0000t tooloont owoos not C o o d s hooe
COMINGSOO
Gcunt-Workshops
hew release
The boys from Nottingham are getting very busy
WHENTHE PHRASE, '00H - it gets Santa arrives, but will almost certainly Codex is planned for next year with
earlier every year', begins to crop up in ambush some Christmas dosh in the special guests, the Dark Eldar.
conversation it's obvious that we're New Year. This Codex will herald the However, Galaxy trembling news
beginning to fill with the spirit of a release of dedicated ranges of Blood guaranteed to make you fall to your
certain pagan festival of indulgence. and Dark Angel miniatures depicting knees and praise the gift of life, is the
From somewhere, buckets of cash have Captains, Librarians, Chaplains and announcement of the return of the
to be found to blow on goodies. characters. Mercifully non-Deathwing Slann. More popular than National
No one appreciates this Dark Angels will shed those prairie Health glasses, the mystic Amphibians
demonstration of Christmas spirit more Indian feathers in favour of a more will be transmogrified into Space
masterful mediaeval look. Lizards. Hurrah!
than Games Workshop who, in the
interests of giving and receiving, will be The Dominatrixes among you will Indeed, anyone wearing their
fulfiling dearest wishes with a host of be pleased as Ripper Swarms (late clever clogs will have noticed that the
new releases during November and November) and Zoanthropes (early conditions for a parallel development in
December. This means knocking the December) swell the broods of the Warhammer have already been created.
Great Devourer to form - oh my - a In the Dark Elf Armies book an
punters dead with kit for Warhammer
40,000, whose enduring popularity was complete army. Now there's a novelty. innocuous-seeming reference is made
The
amply demonstrated by the fact that For those who care to indulge in to evidence uncovered by Dark Elf
Internet wild speculation and uncertain Scouts of an advanced Reptilian race
the Tyranid Codex miniatures became
•tsnewsgroup the fastest selling Games Workshop conjecture, Games Workshop games lurking in the subterranean depths of
designers at the September 40K the Underworld Sea. Remember, you
'rec.games. range of all time.
miniatures. November 6th is the day of the tournament in Nottingham were the heard it here first.
warhammer' is Imperial Guard Codex. Until now The source of lots of gossip. A Chaos
one of the most Guard have been the
popular there is
with nearly a
whipping boys of 40K,
running around with
Prtsagon Dice
hundred postings
weaponry that has all DRAGON DICE is the new collectable dice game
the potency of from TSR and it's really rather good as you can
every day.
flashlights. However see in our review on pages 62-3. In addition to
the Codex promises the ordinary dice that come with the game, TSR
more protection than a have produced a range of special dice which
can of mace and a
they only hand Out at conventions to their close
course of self-defence
friends. These Dragon Lords are extra-specially
classes. Guard
commanders can large four-point units with the ability to cast
cantrips, smite their foes and TAME DRAGONS.
expect reinforcements
in the form of Basilisk They are already massively sought after items in
artillery pieces, which America with postings on the Internet offering all
look awesome, and kinds of money for one, arcane has 100 of these
Hellhound fire beauties to give away
throwers, both vehicles to the first hundred
being based on the people to write in and
Chimera chassis. demand one.
Also imminent,
but this time for life's Address your applications to
"Gimme, Gimme. Gimme... I
winners, is the Angels must have one", arcane, 30
of Death Codex. This Monmouth Street. Bath BA1
fabled tome contains 28W. To give the whole world a
chance to enter, the competition
details of the deviant c1osing date is January 30th 1996.
There are, of course, some rules,
Marine Chapters of the
1Multiple entries will be noticed
Blood Angels and Dark and all disallowed
2. The editor's decision is final
Angels. This is unlikely
3. Employees of Faure Publishing
to be available before and TSR veil be followed borne by a
sniper and shot if they enter.
2,2
371
;
12 a i t C
COMINGSOON
1(eeper
A new angle on computer RPGs?
UNTIL NOW computer RPGs have treasure, but it's not your job to control
always been designed from a player's them. It's your job to stop them.
point of view - offering the chance to Dungeon Keeper casts the player
control either a single hero or a small as an evil wizard whose dungeon is
group on a predetermined quest. With being invaded. You must design your
its first roleplaying game, UK developer dungeon and populate it with monsters
Bullfrog, the name behind Syndicate, of all kinds in order to stop the pesky
Theme Park and Magic Carpet, has adventurers from stealing your loot.
done something different. The game With over 40 different types of
still revolves around the age-old cliché monsters, 25 spells and a vast
of a small band of adventurers assortment of building options,
exploring a dungeon in search of Dungeon Keeper seems to have a lot to
offer. Add to that a completely new
artificial intelligence engine that lets the
heroes learn and adjust to your playing
style and the ability to directly control
any of your monsters from a first
person perspective, and Bullfrog could
have another winner on their hands.
Dungeon Keeper will be released
on PC CD-ROM in November, priced
£44.99. More information can be found
on the World Wide Web at
http://www.bullfrog.co.uk/ 4 1 #
Banemaster:
The Advent
Banemaster INIVNT
MONSMIZ Competition.
WE - FRANKLY - WEREN'T ALL In an extraordinary gesture of
THATIMPRESSED with generosity, Drumond Park are
Banemaster as our review (page prepared to send the first 1500
66) clearly shows. However we do entries that they receive a free
concede that younger players may Banemaster booster pack. After
find it much more fun than we did they've chosen the winners, the top
and accordingly have arranged a ten entries will get four starter decks
massive competition of 70 cards each.
with Drumond Park, the game's designers.
Some things to beer in mind:
The idea is fairly simple. You have to create an 1. Don't send your entries to us, we'll only burn
appropriate monster to go with the game. Just a simple, them. The proper address is below.
2. Remember to keep your entry to under thirty words or Drumond Park will burn them.
:ell description will do in under thirty words. The game 3. No employees of Future Publishing or Drumond Park may enter.
4. The Judges' decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
aready has creatures such as the Mad Vampire Sheep 5. The closing date is 30th December,1995.
3-1c1Flesh Eating Fang Fog (whatever that is) as well as
-lore normal monsters like Skeleton Warriors and Mud Send your entries to:
Drumond Park
Gobblers. What Drumond Park want from you is something
arcane competition, PO Boxl 2607
*.t..ird and wonderful designed with a sense of humour, so West Lothian EH52 6ZD
ust be as imaginative as you can...
0
fLYINq H I q H
Just when it seems that gaming is dominated by huge
companies,newcomer Daedalus arrives. Andy Butcher
found out more about the new kids on the block...
hings are just a little busy at Daedalus "Jose was already working on the imprison the Minotaur and also built the
Entertainment right now. As well as roleplaying game Nexus: The Infinite City famous wings. But we're not gonna pull
moving offices from Toronto to Seattle, and decided to make a real effort of it so an Icarus. We're gonna keep on inventing
which adds all the hassle of immigration that it could be his first published RPG. To powerful toys and catch as many good
and visas to the usual fun and games of get started, he talked to John Nephew winds as we can': John's confidence is far
relocating your place o f work, the and Peter Atkison, the presidents of Atlas from unfounded — with Shadowfist and
company has just released its first Games and Wizards of the Coast, to learn Feng Shui, Daedalus Entertainment has
collectable card game, Shadowfist, soon how the industry worked. He also went to not one but two potential smash hits on
to be followed by a roleplaying system the GAMA trade show to learn more its hands.
based around the same background, about the business, and talked to as many Both games are set in the same
called Feng ShuL people as possible to learn the ropes. All fictional world of the Secret War, an
Despite this John Tynes, director of of this quick-and-dirty education led to unseen battle that's taking place for
marketing and roleplaying games, is the release of Nexus, and now Shadowfist control of the world. Throughout time,
cheerful and relaxed. I asked him how and Feng ShuL" various groups have come to learn and
Daedalus Entertainment got started. "Jose And why Daedalus? "Well at one harness the power of the Earth itself, by
Garcia, the president and co-founder, has point, Jose considered calling the controlling Feng Shui sites — places
been playing and designing RPGs for fun company Quijote Games," says John. "He where Chi, the natural energy of life, is
since he was a kid," explains John. "While wanted it to sound very non-corporate, concentrated a n d stored. Attuning
working in a video store he finally but thought it should suggest quality and yourself to a Feng Shui site allows you to
decided that he really wanted to start a class. 'Daedalus' literally means draw on that energy, gaining great
games company. So he saved up some 'cunningly wrought Daedalus was the fortune in matters both mundane and
money and enlisted his sister Maria as a father of Icarus, the original mad scientist mystical. Whoever controls the most
business partner. inventor who built the Cretan Labyrinth to Feng Sites literally controls the world—-•
2
[ho
v
4- whatever their aims and desires, the And so the Secret War began in may have seen on late-night television.
earnest, and has raged ever since. Every They range from the far past to the far
vast forces of nature shape themselves to
faction has its own aims and its own future, and cross just about every genre -
allow them. If you favour magic over from romance and drama to action,
technology, for example, the whole world agenda to achieve them. Some are more
science fiction and horror - often within
will slowly become more magical, making powerful in some junctures than i n
others. But all of them wish for nothing the same film.
spells easier to cast and spirits easy to "It was this incredible diversity that
summon, while technology will become less than absolute domination o f the
Earth, not just in their own times, but led to the notion of there being different
less reliable and harder to manufacture.
throughout history. time junctures in the world, across which
This in itself is worth fighting for, but
This unique setting, which is virtually the various factions of the game wage
several of these factions have discovered
overflowing with potential, accounts for their war. In this way we can include
the Netherworld, a strange dimension
much of Shadowfist and Feng Shuts anything from junkyard cyberpunks to
that exists in parallel to ours, but out of
renegade cops t o ancient Chinese
demons. Since the original idea, though,
"Anything from junkyard cyberpunks to renegade the concept has expanded beyond Hong
Kong cinema, t o encompass action
cops to ancient Chinese demons" movies in America and elsewhere. That's
appeal. I asked John where the idea for it where you get Shadowlist characters like
time. A t present the Netherworld is
came from. "The major source o f Average Joe and Everyday Hero, for
connected to ours at four different time
inspiration was Hong Kong action example:
periods, or 'Junctures' - 69AD, 1850AD, In fact, i t was t h e continual
the present day and 2056AD. The cinema," h e said. "The best-known
examples of such films are director John expansion and evolution of the these
factions realised that by travelling through basic ideas that resulted in Daedalus
the Netherworld they could extend their Woo's flicks Hard-Boiled and The Killer,
but there're lots more. Hong Kong action ending up with both a collectable card
power over history - and whoever
movies are relentlessly entertaining - game a n d a n RPG. "Originally,
controls the Feng Shui sites of the past Shadowfist wasn't a card game at all,"
also controls the future. these aren't the cheesy kung-fu flicks you
So what does
lesper Myfors
really dislike? THE gAMES THEY PLAY• • •
"Fly-by-night CCG
So when they're not producing games of their own, what do the staff at Daealus play to relax?
publishers who are iust
out to make a buck,
Edge. I'm really fond of the world
and dishonest game Jose Garcia, president: "Over the Edge (from Atlas Games)
setting, and I think it does a
company executives and DC Heroes (from Mayfair-a guilty pleasure). I like OTE
really good job of simulating
who treat their creative because it has a cool background and minimalist rules
conspiracy w a r e
people like cattle." that work. DC Heroes appeals more from a mechanics
We agree. standpoint - the one-roll chart that was extremely
Jesper blyrfor, art director: "Call
flexible and could give you a wide range of results. As
of Cthulhu and Tafislanta. CoC
for card games, besides Shadowfist, I also play Magic:
because it remains faithful to the books
The Gathering and On the Edge. Magic has a wide
and still is playable, Talislanta
variety of possibilities and strategies that let you continue
because of the richness of the world.
to enjoy the game again and again. On The Edge was the
I like M o i c : The Gathering
first CCG with a really great background, and it's terrific in
because It was the first and was
muitiplayer
very exciting to work on, and Dark
Cults because it really makes you think
Maria Garcia, vice president: "I love the Star Wars RPG
and sort of bridges thegap between card
and On The Edge. I used to love Magic, but I've gotten out
games and roleplaying games.
of it."
Rob Heinsoo, designer: "Over the Edge, Earthdawn, and John Tynes, marketing director: "I play Call of Cthuthu,
because it succeeds in recreating a very specific experience -
Everway. OTE is a wicked real-world playground that's a lot of
the stories of H.P. Lovecraft. And I also play Shadowfist and On
fun to gamemaster, Earthdawn has a great take on the heroic
the Edge, simply because they're the two best trading card
fantasy genre, and Everway is the game I've wanted for years
that I can use with my non-gaming friends. I also play On the games out them!'
—
1 1
Shadowfist
Starter Decks E6.95 B o o s t e r s E1.95
_NI I
Daedalus Entertainment - 0 0 1 206 232 2519 O u t now
28'
Feng Shui
ETBA D a e d a l u s Ent Inc
N1 I e
001 206 232 2519 February
In both Shadotufist and Feng Shui the illustrations are superb. They add a great deal of
atmosphere to wh4t might otherwise be a slightly confusing melange of genres. Through the
illustrations everything falls into place.
a r d the players said...
BEN: "Games like this are the
reason I started roleplaying
in the first place."
STEVE: "A refreshing blast for even
the most cynical players:'
lAMES: "Both guns blazing, non-
stop fun."
EMILY: What gaming is all about—
having a great time and
enjoying yourself."
Difficulty Number set by the referee. If should have a certain item, he has it.
your Action Result equals or exceeds the Players are encouraged t o attempt
Difficulty, you've succeeded. The amount outrageous feats. Spellcasting, f o r
example, is modified positively if the elements of the setting are simply plot
by which y o u beat t h e Difficulty
effect is flashy, impressive or advances devices to allow players and referees as
determines how well you do. It's an
the plot. Subtlety and effects that will much leeway as possible, or that several
elegant system, and because most rolls
derail the action are penalised. There's no areas are intentionally unrealistic.
are 'open' (if a six comes up on either die,
spell list - mages have areas of power, Raymond Chandler is reputed to
you keep it and re-roll, adding the result) have said that whenever he got stuck for a
there's always a small chance of success and create effects at will by using them.
The only rules given are for common plot development, he just had a guy come
or failure, regardless of the character's
uses, such as offensive spells and healing. through the door with a gun. In Feng Shui
ability or difficulty of the task.
Likewise, the character generation Simply put, Feng Shui is brilliant. The Frog Shoi is the first the guy in question is more likely to be a
rulebook is clearly written, humorous and slavering demon from another dimension
system is possibly the simplest around. i r r awarded
g a m ethe
ever to be
easy to understand. Everything is clearly
arcane or a cybernetic monster from the future,
Players choose from a long list of different and will almost certainly come through
seal of approval; the
'types' - typical action movie characters, explained, with many examples and a
casual style. The book is packed with highest accolade this the door without opening it first, but the
such as the ones mentioned earlier;
ideas and advice to referees and players magazine gives, principle's the same. As superb as it is,
gamblers, super-soldiers, martial artists Shadowlist is really only the trailer. Feng
and so on. Once the basic character is alike. It's a joy to read, and is obviously the
work of experienced garners who haven't Shui is the feature presentation.
chosen, you come up with some details Andy Butcher
about him, h e r o r i t , including a lost sight o f what it's like t o be a
'melodramatic hook' - a single defining newcomer to the hobby, o r why we
started in the first place - because it's fun.
character trait or event that the ref can use
to create adventure ideas. You then get to These are rules that have been designed
to drive storytelling and roleplaying.
Score 9/10-
modify the character's attributes and
skills, pick some special powers and They're not afraid to point out that many
choose some weapons. And that's it. You
can literally generate a character and get
into the action in 20 minutes.
There's more t o F e rig Shurs
dedication to the action movie genre than
just having a simple rules system, though.
Action movies have shaped the very heart
of the game, and their influence pervades
the entire book. In some ways this is a
game that actually works better with
players completely new to roleplaying. It's
uncompromising in its pursuit of the
action movie atmosphere, and old hands
may have trouble 'unlearning' many of the
zaming conventions that have no place in
aFeng Shui session. Agonising over
:haracter generation decisions, detailed
equipment lists, pages of intricate combat
modifiers - none of these are even
remotely relevant to Feng ShuL If it's not
relevant in an action movie or to the plot,
its just not important in Feng ShuL
As such, there's no need to keep
track of money or gear - if the player can
Dow-wince the referee that his character
rtt 1titc
ftrre
ad!, e t Sure.
Roleplayinggames. They're jolly popular
and yet nobodyever talks about them, it's
funny isn't it? And they neverseem to get in the
papers, on the telly or sung about. Well that's not quite true.
Very occasionally they do surface as arcane discovered with a
quicksurvey of our friends. So we proudly present to you:
flf3t6t D r e d M6 - Man Ayckbourn Md1Z3t6 M O I Y 6 t t i v 6
Right. So it's a play about roleplaying. The four main characters are: a teacher, his
- o r Jaffe
wife, a spotty, young computer-geek who never leaves his room (except to go
roleplaying) and a spotty girl who's too shy to be able to talk. And they all talk in The book that rocked a nation and spawned
ridiculous high fantasy voices when they're playing their game ("We must ask that of a film. At the height of the early '80s anti-
Xenon, the Far-sighted One. Whither now, Xenon?") and the thing's so poorly AD&D hysteria in America this helpful
women delivered a murder mystery based
% researched that they're playing in a on, you guessed it, AD&D. The 'plot' was
the only Alan Ayckboum play the Royal something about kids getting too involved in
Shakespeare Company have ever seen fit playing the game, ending up believing that
to perform? Now ordinarily we're there were orcs and goblins in the real world and, er, going
completely opposed to the burning of around murdering people. Of course. And in Britain, it was
literature, but in this case... released as a romantic novel... Yeah, right.
—Steven qDielberg
After some panicky thrashing about in the
undergrowth with loads of men with torches chasing
something we can't quite see the film finally gets
going. We draw in slowly to the warm and inviting
looking house. There are children, sitting around a
table. They are happy. They are playing Dungeons &
Dragons. The American Moral Majority go bananas
and try to ban the film. These people just aren't very
well balanced, are they?
32
W t t Z t t - In the Garage Wee-zer
Those lovable, 'cross between the Pixies and The Beach Boys', post-modern, 'revenge-of-the-nerdsters',
superstars Weezer (I think that means 'American Guitar Band' - Ed)celebrate their love of roleplaying with
this graunchy, guitar-smashing classic from their eponymous debut album. "I've got my Dungeon Master's
Guide, I've got my twelve-sided die" they sing. And we believe them. Unfortunately, they go on to claim in
the same song that their favourite rock band is Kiss, so maybe they're being ironic and actually think
roleplaying's a bit sad. Bastards.
'17 a l '
• ,7-11,.
4
,• k
:71
, -• ,
(%t-sb,_>.•-•_,•1!-_,,,,:ze,e!• •
/ ,
„ • z-
• • - • •
,‘•-•
;fr-
If you're on the Brian Aldiss is one of Britain's best ever SF authors. He's won worlds'. And it is.
41"A, net, world lots of awards (Hugo, Nebula, 'World's Best Contemporary arcane put on its 'How do they do that?' hat, and asked the SF
building ideas are Science Fiction Author', etc). His three Helliconia novels - meister, er, how he did it.
everywhere. One good Spring, Summer and Winter - are among his best. "There were two primary motivating ideas: i) my old
launch pad is at Heiliconia is a great example of the kind of world you can obsession with time prompted me to dream of a planet where a
http;//thule.mt.cs.edu:8 create for yourself. It is a world on which seasons last for whole year was not our tin-pot 365 days but five thousand Earth
001/sfklearing- centuries - it revolves, along with its weak star Battalix, in a years; ii) the world, the name, Helliconia drifted up into my
house/authors/. 5,000 year ellipse around a huge second sun, Freyr. The drama consciousness. Then I knew I had to go."
of the novels is shaped by this cosmology. The Guardian The result feels like science fact as much as science
newspaper called Helliconia 'The most lifelike of invented fiction. "I do think a foundation of scientific fact greatly assists.
For one thing, it may clear the writer/researcher's mind of
1' • silliness. We're talking science fiction here, not fantasy."
Which explains the way differences feel built in to, rather
than grafted on to Aldiss worlds. "In Hothouse,) simply took
played p&p the basic premise of an Earth which 11-O's ceased to rotate as the
t Te r r y Pratchett
before doing his Sun goes nova. Then I created a mainiy jungle world - no
Discworld stuff. "I problem, since I kntW jungle. But there must be dozens of ways
remember when I first of going about it. The subconscious always helps.""
discovered D&D, in the Could he pinpoint any other useful sources -
early "70s, walking Attenborough's Life on Earth, perhaps? "A good starting point
home in an absolute in my case is that I have read science fiction avidly since an
daze, thinking this was , e a r l y age. You get to know what to do and what not to do.
it, this was a whole new Your suggestion of Attenborough is a good one. No writer
art form and I had to can construct a world as complex as ours:'
get into it... There are Or a people. Heiliconia has human protagonists, like
certainly some fantasy most SF novels; Aldiss says outright in Spring that 'No one
game images in Colour wants a passport to a nation of talking slugs:
of Magic." "Well, its humans we're interested in isn't it? In Dark ,
Adventurer AU Light Years, I opposed the utods (physically disgusting but
cultured aliens) to humans, mainly to make a satirical point.
But slugs? Fergit it
tomorrow, knocking us slightly out of (the New Larousse Encyclopedia o f (Pratchett - though he claims he took this
orbit, the possibilities are endless... Mythology is a good one, and costs straight from one mythology or other).
£16.99 from all good bookshops) and Greg Stafford's Glorantha, t h e
just work on the premise that your background to Runequest, is a great
favourite myth is true. example of a mythological world. The
ER, THE 3 0 D S Maybe humanity sprang forth when earth is a kind of lozenge shape, floating
D I D I T (OR CHEATING) adivine cow licked some stones, and the down the river of time, to which it is
Assuming that some other, all-powerful world consists, essentially, of a very large connected by a huge whirlpool in the
beings are responsible for the way the tree (Norse); maybe Prometheus made centre of the ocean. Gods are very real,
world is gives you a free hand to create man from clay (Greek); maybe the world but are limited to working through their
whatever kind of world you want. Have really is a disc on the back of four followers. The mythology of a world like
a look at any book on mythology elephants o n the back o f a turtle this permeates everything, giving it a lot
more soul than all those Tolkien takeoffs. someone else's world o r universe N o w WRITE IT DOWN
If you are running a fantasy world, wholesale. And there are plenty of games Before you forget, get the basics of
you don't have to deal i n planetary and supplements out there that do this your world down on paper. To begin with,
physics. Let the players fear sailing off the already, of course. do it in shorthand — you can elaborate
edge of the world; let the Elizabethans' But it can be more satisfying to do it as needed. Some game supplements,
music of the spheres be just what it was yourself. For example, although I think ICE GURPS Magic and Fantasy Hero for
thought to be. have done some great work for Middle example, offer A4 sheets for you t o
And even if you're running a science Earth, I'm not happy using the relatively photocopy and fill in for just this purpose.
fiction world, don't discount 'gods'. Any high-powered magic system they offer. You get a thumbnail sketch of the world
race that is intelligent enough to create a And maybe there isn't a supplement If you're really set and details of any house rules by writing
world is effectively a god in this sense. for your favourite book or film. But you . . o n creating as asentence or two alongside prompts like
The world could be a kind of Niven-esque can still use the world. It can help if your 'realistic' a world as 'Known non-human races' and 'Brief
Ringworld, a Star Wars Death Star or a players have also read the book/seen the possible, GDW's description o f campaign state and its
barren planet hit with that Genesis film. They'll have an instant feel for the Traveller: The New Era neighbours', 'Source of Magic', 'State of
Weapon thingamajig from Star Trek. world, and will have absorbed the kind of can be a handy source. Religion' and 'Civilisation/Technology Level'.
However, be careful not t o go detail you'd never have had the time to The World Towers' Starting to develop your world like
overboard here: it's one thing to have have written. The disadvantage is that Handbook this is a lot easier than starting with the
mediaeval characters wandering around your players might know the source too supplement revolves Complete History o f the World i n
inside a Ringworld; it's quite another to do well, and utilise what they know to affect around the most longhand. More elaborate details can be
one of those horrible Twilight Zone sting- the plot; nicking off with the Millennium detailed system for filled in on a need-to-know basis. As long
in-the-tails where the world is (clee-dee- Falcon, perhaps, or trying to jump Frodo world generation you as you know roughly what's underpinning
dee-dee) inside a child's snow-shaker. in the Prancing Pony. can imagine, taking everything, you don't have to write a
So if you're using a fictional source, into account axial tilt, 100,000 word thesis on it.
use the world, not the story. Either explain surface albedo, The most important thing t o
that they're in a kind of alternate history, atmospheric remember is that players must know a lot
pLANETARYROBBERY where the events they've read about composition, average about what's close to home—where they
(ORSTEALING) won't necessarily happen, o r put the temperature and more live, who they know, what the nation's
Perhaps the easiest way of creating a players in a different time period to the - all based on real beliefs and laws are (we'll cover this in
usable world for your players is to take original story. planetary physics. future issues). They don't need to know
There's also an for certain that they're even on a flat earth
interesting section on until they see the waterfall at the edge...
colonising planets If it looks right and it feels right, let
A DIFFERENT pERSpECTIVE science fact take a back seat and throw
in a deus ex machina. Even in the hard
science, desert-world epic Dune there are
This series of articles takes a logical approach to designing a world, starting with basic fudges— like, where does Arrakis get its
concepts and gradually adding details, but that's by no means the only way to go about oxygen? Technically, no living green
things. If you have a few clear ideas about the world you want to create, start with them plants means no chlorophyll base means
and work backwards, creating the world as you go. Suppose you want a society that 4 4 3 Frank
said heHerbert
got the no oxygen. Herbert's theory, which
doesn't use bows, and believes that spirits reside in all natural things. Why aren't there idea for Dune when he doesn't appear in the novels, was that
any bows? Is it a cultural thing, with bows being seen as dishonourable, or something was walking along the oxygen came from the digestive processes
more mundane, such as there being a lack of suitable materials? If it's the former, you beach one day. All that of the sand worms. Yeah, right... But it
have to decide why bows are seen as a bad thing. The latter case is also possible, but a sand... hardly ruins the novel, does it?
world without any naturally occurring 'springy' materials would be very different to ours The novel he then wrote
- no horn, no bamboo, no straight-grained wood. Likewise, what's the truth behind the was rejected by nearly
belief in spirits? Is it just that - a belief with no basis in truth - or do these spirits 20 publishers.
actually exist? Maybe some energy exists in natural things, but not a 'spirit' as such? AND NEXT MONTH
As you can see, just explaining these two parts of a society can lead to many Join Dan for part two of the series where
questions about the nature of the world, and every answer decided upon not only helps he will be tackling the thorny topics of
to flesh out the background but creates more questions of its own. By the time you'd flora and fauna in your brave new world
explained both, you'd already have a much clearer picture of the world you're creating. and discussing what it is that makes a
lizard man tick. 4
t was 1971 A group of garners to say, a wargame entirely adjudicated by
arrived f o r their regular the referee. Chainmail included rules for
meeting in Dave Arneson's fighting in tunnels, which was apparently
basement, expecting to play a afeature of medieval siege-warfare, and
Napoleonic wargame. But Gygax thinks that this gave Arneson the
what Dave actually ran was a idea of running an adventure set in an
fantasy adventure set in his underground labyrinth. Arneson, on the
imaginary land by the name other hand, reckons that in that very first
of Blackmoor Barony. Each player game of Blackmoor players went into the
controlled a single fantasy character. catacombs beneath Blackmoor castle.
Although this wasn't the first time At any rate, Arneson's playing group
the gaming group had tried to inject some liked the idea of underground adventures
roleplaying into wargames, Dave later so much that one of them, Dave Megarry,
called Blackmoor 'the first fantasy went away and invented a complete
campaign'. It's unlikely they realised at the board game based on the idea.
Across the world, thousands time what they were starting. The game's name was Dungeon.
Round about the same time another
gamer, Gary Gygax, was writing the
of people sit down every night second edition of his mediaeval wargame
Chainmail. Wargames traditionally used By 1972, all the ingredients are there.
a single model to represent ten or a DaveArneson is running a game set in a
with rule books, pen paper, hundred men on a small-scale battlefield; fantasy kingdom. Dave Megarry has
Chainmall represented each soldier with written a board game in which heroes
its own model. Gygax says this was slay monsters and steal treasure in
peculiarly shaped dice and embryonic roleplaying: each model was a 'dungeons'. A n d Gary Gygax h a s
single soldier, s o each soldier was designed rules for epic battles involving
potentially a character. swords, sorcery and monsters. Ideas are
little painted minatures. Chainmairs 'Fantasy Supplement' converging. Something important i s
also made it the first game ever to allow about to happen. You can almost hear an
players to field dragons and werewolves expectant hush in the air...
What started them all off? alongside knights and siege engines in
their mediaeval battles. These armies
Gygax met Arneson at a games
convention, a n d t h e y began t o
could include heroes and wizards, the correspond, swap ideas, play in each
What moment of geniusgave direct ancestors of the player characters other's games and work together on a
of today's roleplaying games. new game that would bring together the
At this point, the story gets a little best elements of Blackmoor, Dungeon!
the world roleplaying games? complicated. Dave Arneson started to and Chainmail.
use the Chainmail system to run his This new game was published in
1974 and was described on the box as
Andrew Rilstone tells the tale_ Blackmoor game, which up to that point
seems to have been a 'kriegspiel'; that's 'Rules for Fantastic, Mediaeval Wargames
q A R Y q Y q A X S AY S . . .
"As co-author of Maternal!, I had the
duty of answering fan mail that the
publisher of the work forwarded to
me regularly. The book was selling
well. The mail pouted in. Several
thousand enthusiasts were immersed
in the fantasy aspect of miniature
gaming... surprising news! Although
the fact may have been only vaguely
perceived as such at the time, this
set of rules allowing one figure to
represent one man was the
breakthrough that led to the creation
of the first roleplaying gamer
Gary Gsegax (quoted from his book
"Roleplaying Mastery")
Campaigns, Playable with Paper and Although some garners look back
Pencil and Miniature Figures: It was a nostalgically to this time when no two sets
modest little production; nothing more of D&D players could be assumed to be
than a small box containing three playing the same game, the truth was that
duplicated pamphlets: 'Men and Magic'; D&D was becoming a muddle. By this
'Monsters and Treasure' Dungeon and stage, the game was very much Gygax's
Wilderness Adventures: They called i t own baby - Arneson had left the
Dungeons & Dragons. company - so in 1976 Gygax set about
Did they know what they were editing the diffuse mass o f disparate
starting? Probably not. Wannabee games material into a coherent system. This
designers can take comfort from the fact ambitious project took three years to
that virtually every company in America complete, and became the first edition of
turned the game down. Gygax went ahead Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.
and published it himself. In order to do
this, he started his own games company, 40'
Tactical Studies Rules.
Dave Arneson was not credited as
co-creator in AD&D, and it was this that
provoked him to start a legal action DAVE ARNESON
Originally D&D was extremely sparse and against Gary which was finally resolved in
S AY S . . .
confusing. It assumed that you had a 1981. Dungeons & Dragons is now legally
background i n wargaming and knew recognised as being the joint creation of
Chainmail. There were o n l y three Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. "The first game that stands out in my
While Gary was working on AD&D, mind is a little mediaeval game, a
character classes (Fighting Men, Magic
Users and Clerics), and a very small range he also commissioned another games very dull period of war games. Dave
inventor, Eric Holmes, to produce an Wesley had a dull set of rules, and
of monsters. If you wanted to play the
introductory version of the game. This we were bored. To spice it up, Dave
game, you more or less had to invent your
own house rules and variants: and this is was Basic Dungeons & Dragons, the form gave each of us a little personal goal
in which many of us encountered the in the battle. Well, that kind of got us
what many garners started to do.
game for the first time. all thinking about "wasn't that neat".
Gary Gygax has always frowned on
The big, glossy box contained an Someone said "Let's have a big
this. 'Nobody,' he has said, 'would take
introductory rulebook that tried to boil the mediaeval campaign, with half a
seriously an article proposing that land
mines be added to chess: hugely complicated D&D down to just a dozen different people playing the
few pages; an introductory scenario; and little powers with fifty or sixty men:
As the game's popularity spread,
abag of dice. It was probably the first that way you're a knight or a king or
largely by word of mouth, Tactical Studies
product that most people who enjoy the whatever!' And it developed from
Rules put out official supplements for the
hobby today would recognise as a there. That got us into mleplaying. "
game. Greyhawk (early 1975) introduced
Thieves for the first time. Blackmoor (late roleplaying game. Dave Arneson (quoted by Gary Alan Fine
It was 1977. An industry - some in 'Shared Fantasy')
1975) brought in monks and assassins;
druids arrived in Eldritch Wizardly. would say a way of life - was born.
,
s to t e '0
dimension to your gaming. that's going. Mark your spot and leave your mark.
From TSR 0 1 2 . 7 3 717511
Bookmarks T9, B o o k plates (for 10) 1 , 5 0
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Our jaws dropped. Drool collected in the corners of
our mouths and fell, unheeded, on to our chests.
Gold-plated AD&D belt buckles for £45! Blimey.
From TSR - t . t 1 01773 2.17517
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Belts, between a n d 413
If the Scrye counter doesn't appeal then these mana packs are pretty good too.
And you can use the counters on cards as well as for your own life...
st —
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Keep your cards safe and well organised with these boxes and plastic sleeves Actually, of all the things that TSR sent us, it's these that finally caught our
(or 'card condoms', as they're known). collective eye. A couple of the neck thongs aren't bad (no, really) and are
Available from Esdevium Games - e ) 012.52- 311443 Prices i:eld Stzeg van( hardly indentifiable as AD&D-related at all.
From TSR 0 1 1 1 3 i l i S r f Badges T h o n g s and rings $'3.99
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The first in a series of
ocileothble-encounters
presented in
His evil monstet has caused havoc throughout this otherwise ordinary city. It has taken you a long
time to track his foul creation bat k to the lair it came from. Now you stand, wea on read , outside
'the ominous edifice that is its home, teady to confront both the monster and its creator. So jemmy
i r • - • - 11 P D , • 1K
open the door and step gingerly through the eerily silent entrance hall. Welcome to the lab.
-
What lies behind the
closeddoors of the doctors
surgery?Read on...
The Doctor's apartments and laboratory are situated over two
One is a t ground level and the other is in The basement.
For a fantasy setting, you might wish to have the ground floor
as a stand—alone building; in a more modern—day setting you
might prefer it to be The ground floor of a larger house. The
Doctor may have aper-hnents upstairs, or in another part of
the city — you decide.
The Doctor is a well—known specialist in The area and runs
a practice rom the first floor. I t would be a good idea to
introduce him to the players whenever one of them needs some
special treatment for an injury. Other entry points into this
encounter include having The players approached by concerned
locals regarding the nocturnal habits of '<etch; having bodies
disappear from the graveyard in town, with the players being
asked to investigate; or having the players witness some
Strange goings—on Themselves.
Remember right from the beginning, though, That you can
play this encounter two ways. The first is that the doctor is
an evil character who is reanimating corpses a la Frankenstein,
while the second is that he is merely pursuing a quest f or
knowledge. Berke and Hare, the two infamous London grave— table in the centre of the room. i5i ireplcice is perfectly
robbers, were only providing parts o r surgeons to investigate_ useable, but a fire is rarely lit due to the doctor's legendary
meanness. As a consequence, the room is usually quite cold.
The single sash window is securely locked every night by the
conscientious Mary.
Consultation room
Ption This is where the doctor meets his patients. Behind screens
there is a comfortable couch on which the doctor carries out hiS
examinations. During office hours, the doctor is ordinarily to be
found seated behind his large desk and i t is here that he will
i-l-trance
Ground floor first interview patients. He keeps his medical records in a
locked cabinet behind his desk. (These records may also be The
The entrance to The house is through a sturdy door That would source of many adventures...) The two Sash windows in here are
survive a lot of damage. I t has a very old—fashioned and solid usually bolted by the doctor, unless he has something on his
lock. The area contains a large pot o r umbrellas and the like; mind, in which case he can be absent—minded.
a hat stand; a receptionist's desk where Mary can be found
during the day; a pigeonhole o r mail; and a circular carpet.
Off ice
The Doctor's office is where he spends any breaks he may
W a i t i n g nOODI have, and where he goes to do his paperwork after The surgery
t'\ aiHy well—appointed room with a shelf Tull of books in a closes. The dominating feature is his large desk surrounded by
recess to the north—east. There are several chairs and a large bills and other miscellaneous bits o f paperwork; invoices f or
You're a smart person, right? We don't need to patronise you with detailed rules on how to translate these people and events into your
own system, do we? But just in case you're uncertain, here's a couple of tips. Whenever we do a character description (you'll find them
all at the end), we'll say something like 'Doctor Bloggs has a fine, incisive mind and this is complemented by a strong, athletic body. As
a child, however, he suffered from a rare lung disorder that means he has difficulty in sustaining effort. He is also prone to making
rather impulsive decisions.' In game terms this would mean that Doctor Bloggs has above-average strength, intelligence and dexterity
and below-average constitution and wisdom. Exactly how much above and below average is up to you and the strength of your party of
adventurers. This is also the case in systems that use levels. Give the encounter's characters the sort of levels that will make them a
challenge for your players. You'll find similar descriptions of all important physical objects, such as 'the door is paper-thin' or 'this glass
is bullet-proof'. Now stop reading this wibble and get stuck in.
-
"*.;;;T
t41
-
specialist equipment and drugs and so Torth. The doctor,
actually spends most aT his time in this room sitting by the Tire
and reading journals to keep up with current medical practice.
booksheIT contains many interesting books on the human
Laundry area
(and inhuman, iT you like) body. The other major item o-T interest This i9 the house's washroom. I t has a flagstone floor, big sinks,
in here is the medicine cabinet, which is stocked with a wide a drying rack and a mangle. There's a shelf up against the door
array o-T drugs suitable to your campaign. The doctor has through to the rest o-f the basement which doesn't hide the
experienced many attempted break—ins to this part o-T the door very well at all (it's not really meant to).
house, and as a consequence the doors and kr,Jirldowg are all
kept firmly locked when nobody is here. Coal gtore
behind a huge pile o-T coal is klench's simple bed. There are also
kitchen a Tew scavenged personal effects here, although there i9 little
The kitchen is clean and sparse and rarely used. The doctor o-T any real value.
preTers to eat out. klehch eats what he forages. There's a
good selection oT knives knocking about in here, but little else Wine Store
to excite the experienced adventurer. The door to the kitchen Racks o r several hundred bottles o-T wire run down both sides
is never locked. The window hasn't been opened in months and oT this room, with only a smallish gap through the centre t o walk
is consequently stuck shut. A really good shove would open it through. There are only a very Tew bottles in here, though.
up immediately, though. Anybody searching may well be pleasantly surprised at the
quality aT the wines. The former owner o-T the house was a
Toilet connoisseur who died before finishing all his wines. They have
Always suffering from the number oT patients (with all sorts oT lain here undiscovered o r several years, since the doctor and
problems) who pass through here, the toilets are not the most klench have little interest in them.
peasant experience. The windows in here are Tar too small o r
an ordinary human being to crawl through, but they might
Store Room
Succumb to something smaller... This is Tilled with old packing cases that equipment has arrived
in, bits oT broker equipment, cobwebs and dust.
Hallway
'9 a hallway, and there's not that much that you can say
The Laboratory
about a hallway. except, perhaps, that as well as some pictures, Tr.s. .ocation i9 the crux o-T the matter. When the players
it has a loose floor rug, which is always good o r comic relief -finally find themselves here, The scenario you are running will
When rolling o r chases. The back door to the alley behind the probably be resolved one way or the other. So have Tun letting
house is very secure, usually being bolted as well as locked. the suspense build up. Make sure everything's in darkness when
They get here and they have to Tumble about a bit first.
Storeroom The south wall is all cupboards containing The doctol-'s notes
Filled with miscellaneous cleaning equipment, the storeroom is and a variety oT equipment suitable to your background. in the
usually locked, albeit with a very -Tlimsy lock. A large chest Tull room itselT, there's a trolley with equipment on i t that can be
aT old rags sits in the middle oT the floor, which could prove to wheeled around the operating table. This is surrounded by Tour
be just a little inconvenient, because i t hides the stairway to lights on large stands (in a fantasy setting these can be
the cellar below. permanent light magic spells) covered with black hoods. There's a
round glass case containing a whole body in the north—west
, corner; or possibly it's a humunculus, or a kind aT
Frankenstein's monster. Running south along the west
2MR/0 itit wall are shelves with other bits oT bodies in jars. In the
north—east corner is a bookshel-T Tilled with valuable
and rare books.
The various pieces oT distilling equipment dotted
around the room can be used o r any purpose you think
Tit Suggestions regardless oT genre include; the
manufacture o-T 'Zombie potions that destroy the will oT
the imbiber; revitalising potions that bring life back to
corpses; alcohol (just in case the doctor's innocent); a
revolutionary medicine that will be a panacea o r all ills;
and so on.
One important element not clearly visible on the
map is the secret entrance that's hidden behind the
palettes in the hallway Thom the coal cellar and laundry
into the laboratory. This leads via a tunnel into a crypt
at the nearby local cemetery. klench dug i t himselT, and
it's quite prone to collapse IT used. This secret route
comes out actually inside a sarcophagus. klench removed
that body first in his grave—robbing exploits (more by
luck than judgement). This secret entrance inside the graveyard means
that even when the graveyard has been watched to see if anyone is
stealing from graves, nobody has seen anything. Their mistake is to have
watched the obvious entrances and exits to and from the graveyard. The
likely upshot of this is that many will believe that There is some
supernatural force at work abducting the bodies.
Pon't forget there are two major possibilities here. As well as the very
obvious ''mad scientist in making monster" story, There's also thge possibility
That the doctor could be a victim of the player's preconceptions. The
woman screaming? Could just be the cleaner being terrorised by a rat in
The cellar. The body in the glass jar? Possibly it is merely a medical sample
That he's keeping o r legitimate research. The hunchback's secret entrance
into the graveyard? Might be the only way he can get to visit his love, the
gravedigger's daughter, without her jealous father knowing. everything
does not have to be as i t first appears.
rrank fullerson
Anybody who visits the doctor's surgery often enough will get to know
Prank, even if only by sight. A rather pathetic—looking hypochondriac, Frank
is nearly always sitting in the waiting room, snuffling away. Unknown to
most people, Frank is actually the son of a very wealthy family. He trusts
Poctor Von erhartz implicitly and travels incognito a long way across town
to see him. every day. The money that Frank brings In is one of the main
resources that the doctor has. frank is pathetic himself, but is likely to
take a shine to any adventurous—looking characters. The players may well
find themselves listening to his torrent of medical problems.
The Golden Dragon Inn. This Tully—fleshed out environment is a place for
adventurers from any era to use as a base Tor all their exploits, or to
drop in to Tor a drink, a gossip or a fight.
5-711
Heresy: Kingdom ComeTM is a fast-moving game of fallen
angels, cyberpunk demons and awakened dreamwalkers.
Set amidst the Ruin of a Forsaken Earth, somewhere in our
own dark and distant future, players struggle for global,
spiritual and virtual domination in a race for re-ascension.
Ad.., •
• to
Learning to play Magic: The Gathering is relatively
simple. Learning to build a playable deck can be
slightly more difficult. If you're new to Magic and
can't seem to get your cards to work together,
Andy Butcher's here to show you how...
4 agic: The Gathering presents IN THE BEqINNINq
/ new players with two very So, let's start with the basics. Firstly, decide how
distinct challenges. The first many cards you're going to use. Setting a limit right at
of these is learning how to play the start is a good idea because it encourages you to
the game, t h e second i s consider you choices more carefully, and helps to
learning how build a deck. avoid ending up with a deck so large that it's
Unfortunately, while the neat little manual that you get impossible to shuffle, let alone play with. Having loads
with the starter deck does an admirable job of of cards might seem like a good idea to start with, but
teaching you the rules, it's far from informative on the it's actually counter-productive.
subject of deck building. It's no surprise, then, that One of the keys to a successful Magic deck is
this seems to be the area that gives newcomers to consistency—getting the cards you want when you
Magic the most trouble. need them. The more cards you have the less
The problem is really due to the nature of the consistent your deck will be, as you'll have less
game itself. Although the rules are quite structured chance of seeing a specific card in a given duel.
and easy to get to grips with, deck building is the Having said that, although Magic allows as few as 40
complete opposite. While playing a duel, on any cards, 60 is probably a better number. Not only does
given turn there are only so many things you can do, it allow for a little more variety, but if you ever feel the
depending on the spells and lands you have available. urge to start playing in tournaments, you'll already be
But when you sit down to design a deck, the options used to building decks of the right size.
are virtually limitless, even with a fairly modest
selection of cards.
Of course, this freedom of choice is one of the
very reasons for Magic's success, and the source of LIFE I s COLOUR
the 'Simple strategies... Infinite possibilities' slogan Next you should think about how many colours you
on all the advertising. But it's also the reason why it's want to play with, and which one(s). Single colour
so hard to find any hard and fast advice on deck decks have the advantage of being relatively easy to
construction. With so many possible combinations, play, but they're ultimately one-sided, inflexible and
it's nearly impossible to say that something is always (worst of all) predictable. Each colour in Magic: The
'right' or 'wrong', and so much depends on personal Gathering has specific weaknesses, and in a deck of
taste and which cards you actually have. As such, just one colour these are exaggerated. In addition,
what follows isn't an attempt to tell you how to build single colour decks are also vulnerable to many Cards like this make
the ultimate 'killer' deck (if there is such a thing), but spells, such as Circles Of Protection or those that playing with a single.
aseries of pointers to help you create something destroy all of a certain type of land. colour deck a risky
balanced and playable. On the other hand, many-coloured decks are proposition at best...
very hit and miss, as you'll rarely get the right type of
lands to cast all the spells in your hand. The best
compromise, then, is two colours. If you work at it, PASS M Y p o I N T Y H AT
you can make one or three colours work, but they'll Finally we come to the real nuts and bolts of Magir- '-- 1 4 4
rarely be as effective as a good two-coloured deck. the spells. Again, the simplest way to organise thest,;-,_
Choosing which colours to play with is largely a is to split them evenly between the colours.
matter of personal taste, playing style and the cards So, in our example red and green deck, assuming
you have available. However, it's worth giving some we chose four artifacts, that leaves us with 36 cards to
thought to how the colours work together. Some choose to make the numbers up to 60, or 18 of each
combinations compliment each other, with one colour. Furthermore, it's a good idea to try and split
colour making up for the other's weaknesses, these fairly evenly between creatures and 'other'
whereas others simply boost each others' strengths. spells. Creatures are the single most effective way to
Red and black both For example, say you want to use green as one of Bigger is not always deal damage to your opponent, so it's important that
work well with your colours. Green is very strong on creatures, and better. They might you have enough of them. Breaking the example
green, but will make has some great creature enchantments as well. As not be huge, but down further, we're going to need nine creatures of
very different decks. such, red would be a good complimentary colour, as Scryb Sprites are each colour and nine 'other' spells of each as well.
It's important to its strengths lie in direct damage spells like Fireballs one of green's most
consider which and Lightning Bolts. Black, on the other hand, is also powerful creatures.
colours suit your strong on creatures and creature enchantments, so it
playing style. would simply boost green's already impressive HERE B E DRA30NS
strength in these areas. When choosing your creatures, don't fall into the trap
Both approaches are valid, but it's important to of only picking the biggest, toughest and nastiest
appreciate the potential strengths and weaknesses of monsters that you own. Powerful creatures are all very
the decks they'll create. Nearly all the possible well, but they're useless until you've played enough
combinations of colours have something to be said lands to pay their summoning costs.
for them, but some are definitely more useful than Small, cheap creatures may not provoke the same
others and some are actually a bad idea (white and level of fear in your opponent, but you can get them
black, for example, are very hard to get to work into play and start dishing out damage much earlier.
together effectively). Try to limit yourself to a couple of biggies per colour,
and make up the numbers with a mix of small and
/Ze medium creatures.
Likewise, don't go overboard on walls - they're
THE FOUNDATIONS usually nice and cheap, but as they can't attack
With the colours and number of cards decided, it's they're essentially passive and won't actually hurt
time to start getting specific. Lands should come first. your opponent. By all means pick a couple, but try to
Although balancing the proportion of lands to spells is Deciding between go for ones like the Wall Of Fire (A red 0/5 wall that
asubject worthy of an article in itself, starting off with these two cards isn't gets +1/0 for every point of red mana you put into it)
athird lands is normally a good bet. Split these lands very difficult, but or the Carnivorous Plant (a green 4/5 wall), that can
equally between your colours. For example, let's say comparing each card at least kill or damage the creatures they block.
that we're building a 60 card red and green deck. That with others of a Also, be sure to compare different creatures and
means 20 lands, so the first thing to do is to count out similar cost is the their casting costs, and pick the ones that offer the
10 forests and 10 mountains. way to spot the best most for the least. Consider the different special
Next choose your artifacts. As with so many value for mana. abilities some creatures have, and whether or not
aspects of building a deck, there are a couple of ways they're worth the extra casting cost.
you can deal with this The first is to choose artifacts Above all, don't underestimate the usefulness of
that will go some way towards balancing a weakness flying creatures. For example, in our green and red
inherent to your choice of colours. Black and red deck, we're going to have nine creatures of each
decks, for example, are very popular as they combine colour, which would probably break down as a couple
some nasty creatures with good direct damage spells. of toughies, four wimps and three mediums for each
However, neither black or red have any healing or colour. For the red wimps, we'd be a lot better off
damage prevention spells to speak of, so it might be choosing Goblin Balloon Brigades than Mons Goblin
an idea to use suitable artifacts to counter this. Raiders. Both are 1 /1 creatures costing 1 red mana to
Throne Of Bone Alternatively, you could do the opposite, and summon, but the Balloons can fly for a turn at the cost
allows a black deck choose artifacts that -siMply add to your colour's of 1 red mana and are thus much better 'value'.
to actually gain strengths. The important thing, though, is not to go
some life, balancing overboard. Artifacts can provide useful powers and
the colour's host of effects, but the core of your deck should be based on
destructive powers. the colours you've chosen (Unless, of course, you're I K A N SPELL
building an artifact deck, but that's another matter When you get round to it, choosing your sorceries
altogether). and enchantments is a similar process - be sure to
include a mix of cheap, medium and expensive spells,
as well as a mix of types. In both cases, always
consider each card both on its own merits, as well as
considering how the different spells and creatures will
work together. There's little reason to have a card that The adv - o f this structured method of
gives all Goblins +1 /+0 unless you have several deck building is that it helps you to create a fairly
Goblins in your deck. balanced deck, and forces you to think about the
Likewise, unless you're constructing the deck for cards you're going to use and what role they'll play.
aspecific purpose (such as demolishing your friend's However, once you've played a few games you'll
black and blue creation that pasted you last night), be probably start to realise that a less rigid structure
wary of spells and creatures that have restricted can be more useful. For example, let's stick with the
targets or uses. Creatures that can't attack unless your green and red deck. Having nine creatures and nine
opponent has islands in play aren't much use against 'other' spells of both colours is perfectly playable,
someone playing without blue, unless you have some but it's possible to make more of each colour's
way of giving them an island. Is it better to be able strengths. You might want to try increasing the
to attack, or do you number of green creatures, and lowering the
need more effective number of green spells, while doing the opposite
blockers? Choosing with your red cards. In this way you keep the same
COME O N THEN between cards like number of creatures in the deck, but take advantage
Once everything's been chosen there's only one way these is what fine of green creatures' generally low casting costs.
to test your design, and that's to play with it, tuning your deck is Likewise, you keep the same number of spells, but
preferably against as many people as possible. What all about. Playing is you also allow yourself more of red's great direct
works against your best friend might not even scratch the only way to test damage cards.
aplayer with a different deck and a different style, and your decisions.
it's important to see how your creation fares against
various combinations of colours.
Only b y playing can you see where the ON T H E EDqE
weaknesses in your deck lie, and then alter your deck As you gain more experience, you'll find yourself
to solve them. If you never seem to have enough land, experimenting with even more extreme mixes of
either swap a few spells for some more lands, or try cards. A recent tournament winning deck contained
choosing some cheaper spells, and vice versa. And if only two ways of doing damage to the other player
..to 401 • mow r t a t elka,
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ecromunda is the latest South Central LA look like Surbiton. The Goliaths, beautifully stripped
miniatures-based tabletop You're a bunch of tough hombres who and oiled, are your traditional steroid-
battle game from Games fancy themselves a bit. So you and the pumping meatheads. Brute strength and
Workshop. It's a spawn of brothers are out in the Bad Zones lookin' ignorance is their strong suit.
the Warhammer 40,000 to earn some respect. Loosely translated: The Orlocks, on the other hand, are
Universe and the family you and your hired thugs are going to use basic, honest-to-goodness, salt-of-the-
resemblance is marked, any old excuse to pick a fight with some earth street thugs who sport a natty line
but this time there's a like-minded fellows and maim each other. in bandanas, leathers and strategically
rumble in the concrete jungle. And You owe vague allegiance to a House placed wristbands.
fortunately, you're in the thick of it. of the feudal persuasion. This influences Four other gangs are also described
Necromunda is a hive world with an your gang's combat style and, more in the game: the techno-boffin Van Saars;
image problem: A place where the entire importantly, what your miniatures are the shifty Delaques; the lip-smacking,
planetary population is crammed into the going to look like. In the box you get plum-squeezing all-girlie Escher gang;
futuristic equivalent of Tower Hamlets, miniatures that represent two of these and the Cawdors, brothers of redemption
A Tower Hamlets that is ten miles high. gangs; the Goliaths and the Orlocks. who purge infidels. Apparently metal
renditions of all these gangs will appear in
boxed sets and blister packs over the
next few months, with the Cawdors and
0
I
Driocks already available. The rulebook evoke the imagery of the source material, So what's in the box?
ald figures in the box describe a wide especially when played over the three
The phrase usually on Games Workshop's lips
-ange of weaponry with which your gang dimensional hive terrain provided. This We've heard
at the time of a major product release is i t
:an be tooled up. Once you're packing network of buildings and gantries enables a rumour that
was so huge we were worried it might not fit
-eat, you're ready to rumble. you to construct an alluring yet lethal Robin Williams is a
killzone that suits the miniatures well. in the box'. Well, ye cannae change the laws of
At its core, Necromunda is a fairly very keen player of
physics, but they've managed to cram it all in
sznple skirmish game. Gangs weigh in at Dammit! I can't deny it any longer, Warhammer 40,000.
once more. You do, in fact, receive a fair haul
around ten models a side and fight fast, it's also a corking concept. I like the idea Well. Robin, you'll
of kit for your 09.99, considering the going
Dloody, dirty little firefights. The gameplay of being embroiled in a vicious, bloody like this one too.
o•eapons can run out of ammo (aarghl) my carefully conceived tactics breaking ! complete with bulkheads. The rules and rich
arid hits may only inflict flesh wounds, down as I sent an ill-equipped gangster ! source material arrive in the form of two
comprehensive manuals: one that charitably
,leaving a combatant down, seething with haring across a gantry to bail out a Another confusion
explains the best methods to deal GBH to your
inner rage, but not out. brother, isolated from my gang and
i t o t o get out of the opponents, and another that reveals how you
Essentially, though, it's the same receiving a mugging from gleeful rivals. way is that Games
formula of tape measures, generic stats And there's nothing more satisfying than Workshop no longer ! may prolong the pleasure in a campaign.
for categories of troopers, and Mister D6 watching a wounded piece of scum crawl make Warhammer
'laying the fickle finger of fate. desperately for cover, before popping him Fantasy Roleptay.
It's an easy system to learn. The rules with a solid slug from a shotgun. That game is the Necromundan campaign system: yes,
are presented clearly and digestion is What's more, the game doesn't have currently published by by stringing together a series o f
aided by a generous measure of diagrams. to end when the last bloke who dissed Hogshead Publishing. delinquent acts of extreme violence you
:tirther, its a system that works. It results your Auntie is greased. A large part of the can advance your gang to a high level.
n well-paced, balanced encounters that material that comes in the game deals with Thus it transpires that Necromunda is a
chimera, made not only of Warhammer
40,000 but also of the choicest cuts from
the still-warm corpse of Blood Bowl. This
provides a sleek, simple experience points
system which gains your gangsters new
skills and abilities without clogging up the
gameplay. It can also provide back-up in
the form of hired guns such as Scouts and
On the left are the Goliaths, big bastards with
Bounty Hunters.
guns, and on the right the dirty and quick
During a campaign, you start to
°docks. Right, that's enough introductions —
carve out your own turf and must prevent
kill each other! competitors from muscling in. Further,
your various rackets draw in an income
which can be used to buy more exotic
equipment and weaponry. This introduces
astrategical element to Necromunda
Certain skills and equipment which seem
pointless in the basic game become vital
in the scenarios of a campaign.
This brings us to the hazard warning.
The Necromunda you truly want to play
isn't really the Necromunda you have in
the box. To play the ultimate Necromunda
you'll soon be investing in new gangs,
special gang members in blister packs and
the inevitable, essential supplement:
Outlanders. Rest assured, Necromunda will
These be given more support than Manchester
handy line of United. Just be prepared to get in deep.
A nasty sight rules stop Mark Donald
big grenade just went a lot of arguing.
\ bang and scared everybody.
Score 8/10
Dragon Dice
E6.99 T S R .-.37.46114
01223 212517 Released in December
And the original, coral elves and the symbols that represents that die's
dwarves started fighting the goblins and abilities. One face always has an icon that
the upstart lava elves and everything represents the unit type; some unit types combat, one for movement and one for
degenerated badly until every hand was are spellcasters, others are cavalry, missile fire. A dwarven infantry unit
turned, one against the other, others are infantry troops, and so on. The would have exactly the same, except that
And that's where you come in: as other five faces of each die represent instead of a missile icon, it would have a
commander of a rag-tag army made up of things which that particular unit can do. shield. A Goblin spellcaster, in addition to
any combination of the four races, you An elven infantry unit die will its icon, has three faces for spellcasting,
face up to anybody who wants a fight. typically have three faces that represent one for combat and one for movement.
Each race has fifteen different unit
types, and the collectable part of the
Some of game comes from being able to build an
-e t h e fighting army to a total points value out of your
units in Dragon Dice available dice. You can build armies that
have special abilities are strong o n magic, strong o n
that are represented by movement, strong on missile attacks or
unique symbols. Some strong on melee. Or you can try various
can fly, for instance, balances in between.
while others have Once your army is settled, you can
counter-attacks that take
begin to play. Your army is divided into
effect immediately and three groups for three terrains; your
yet others have cantrips: home army, your campaign army and
spells that can be cast in your horde army. Your opponent does
the middle of combat, the same and the two armies square up to
each other; your home army against his
horde army, and vice versa, and the two
campaign armies against each other.
There is another kind of die, as yet
unmentioned, that I must talk about now.
And this is what you get This the terrain die. This eight-sided die
for your money. The bag represents the terrain that each conflict is
(allegedly a collector's item in fought on; in our example there would be
itself), the rules, a reference sheet three terrain dice. These dice are
and a collection of dice. different colours, to represent different
terrain; each race has a 'home' terrain that appropriate symbol; you can only use a And the players said...
gives them an advantage. The terrain die missile attack at a terrain die with the
is numbered from one to eight, each appropriate symbol; and so on. C H R I S : "It's a unique strategy
number representing a range. The range All actions are resolved in the same game, but the symbols
of each conflict is set at the beginning of way as the manoeuvres are, with you should have been
throwing all your dice and adding up the Here's a bonus standardised."
the game by rolling the dice; low numbers
are magic, middle numbers are missile appropriate icons t o see how much for ya: some free ANDY: "I don't know if there's
and high numbers are melee (there's an damage you do, or how many magic promotional Dragon enough strategic depth to
points you generate, or whatever. Lords. These fearsome make it last'
icon showing this). The eighth side is one
of four types of building, control of which One final thing to explain is dragons. generals are four-point SIAN: "I loved it. Let's have
These are represented by special 1 2- monsters with the
confers a special ability to the victor. another go."
The object of the game is to move sided dice and can be summoned by ability to tame dragons PAUL; "I'm confused:.
two of the three dice to the eighth face. magic and placed at any terrain. They then and cast cantrips.
This is done by manoeuvring. On your act as a random factor, attacking every arcane has 100 of
and you win control of it. as such, it's fantastic. Initial criticisms I had single terrain.
My horde is composed of
dwarves and lava elves.
y I game
n you
vampire known as
the
are a super-powerful
a 'Methuselah'.
patriarch, reputed
to have lived for
960 years.
"the sense of being involved in dabbling; but those who dare will be
rewarded with a game in which both the
a diabolic death struggle is PCsand the referee can be truly surprised.
Trenton Webb S c o r e 7 / 1 0
brought over excellently"
tremendously popular; but i f they're Lost Trinity
hoping to gain for Vampire the same sort An Episode Script for I t t
Immortal: The Invisible War 4 7 "
of broad acceptance that Magic has E17.99 Precedence '-i!31)01 602 8941812
achieved, then I think they've failed. Out now
There's some consolation in the fact
that at least they haven't ruined the strong ' 1 * ost Trinity is
game that already existed. Vampire has the second
one of the most satisfying story-telling scenario for
atmospheres of any card game I've ever Immortal: The
The first Invisible War, and
played, and the sense of being involved in
It'expansion pack adiabolic death-struggle is brought over like the previous
for Vampire: TES is
to the player excellently. scenario, Dream
Dark Sovereigns, which Stroke, it has a dreamlike quality. In
Vampire is also the most intriguingly
should be out in the
political card game I've played, with general, Immortal is a weird, atmospheric
very near future.
factions and alliances being formed and game with a richer background than
broken throughout the game. I just feel Vampire or NephiTim. The system is quite
that Wizards could have achieved a better easy, but it is not a beginner's game
re-working of the rules. because of its heavy reliance on jargon
Steve Farasher and odd concepts.
The presentation of all Immortal
products is stunning and this is no
Score 7/10 exception, with 17 full-colour prints, a
colour map and a wonderful CD — 0
V
Dungeon Master
containing music, effects and also the
"Radio Eternity" broadcast, which provides
an early plot lead.
The scenario uses an easy-to-follow
format with plenty of referee's hints, tips,
cues, background reminders and cross-
references to relevant rules. This helps
make the scenario a joy to referee, even if
O P P l o g I l i High-level CarinpaignfILJI you have not run Immortal before.
Lucya Szachnowski S c o r e 7/10
E11.99 T S R - ; 0 1 2 2 3 212517 O u t now
The Complete MIA's
why did AleHander weep when he saw there were no Handbook
A rules supplement for Advanced
more worlds to conquer? Because he knew he'd have to sret Dungeons & Dragons
E10.09 T S R 'OS01223 212517 O u t now
the d6 out and start from scratch. Again!
injas are always
he AD&D system has a fundamental flaw: fascinating.
characters eventually become so potent Partly it's a cultural
that they can cope with anything the thing, but in part the Nnlas
world (or alternative planes, or gods) can appeal is egotistical - a
throw at them. High-level Campaigns seeks to player who passes notes
remedy this, aiming to provide new inspiration and back and forth with the
sensible controls for... er... high-level campaigns. referee and who has goals he keeps secret
The book is split in seven sections. It starts with from the rest of the party is bound to feel
The Seven Maxims, a series of common-sense he's a bit special.
principles. Second is Adventures, an attempt to TSR's 128-page handbook details the
reinvigorate the level-challenged DM by offering a class itself clearly; referees will be glad to
mechanic to generate custom lands and creatures. know that ninjas aren't as overpowering as
Spells and Magical Items addresses the nature some of TSR's previous classes. Optional
of extreme magical powers, detailing suggested limits kits mean players can modify the base
for both spells and magical booty, while Creating class slightly, favouring certain abilities.
Magic Items deals with the natural urge of high-level Chances are you'll want martial arts
wizards to create weapons and wands for their group for show, for profit or for keeps. This is a complex abilities, and extensive rules culled from
1 and Magical Duels introduces a novel mage-specific but calculated system with unique spell-on-spell the Oriental Adventures book are included,
combat system. True Dweomers is the obligatory combat rules that make for invigorating battles. enabling the modelling of real martial arts
additional spell list, with more 'earth-shaking' magic, The new powers in High-level Characters fall such as Kung Fu and jujutsu, or the creation
while High-level Characters suggests extra abilities to into two kinds: style and substance. The style side is of new styles. It can be complex, but both
give powerful people a truly heroic swagger. great, helping PCs to develop nuances of character, basic and advanced rules are provided.
The Seven Maxims is the most essential section, but the abilities in the substance part are really trivial The handbook gives plenty of good
though it contains little more than solid, common- things that will be overlooked by referees, but that advice on how a ninja can keep his identity
sense rules that focus the minds of DMs and players. players will attempt to transform into life-saving skills. hidden from the party. Such secrecy and
Similar strong-but-simple ideas are crystallised These three good chapters constitute the intrigue might be a pain to referee, but it
in Magical Duels, with the idea that wizards can fight majority of the book and are recommended reading. provides chances for great roleplaying.
by proxy in a psuedo-world in which they can unleash The other four chapters, however, fall into the trap of Cliff Rarnshaw S c o r e 8/10
their mightiest magic so many ISIR supplements and guides; namely that
rather than replacing or refining rules, ever more Banemaster
tables and lists are heaped on top of the old. A collectable card game
High-level Campaigns is of interest but by no Starter Decks 24.00 B o o s t e r Packs El
means essential. The Seven Maxims could add Drumond Park 'etS 01505 855577 Out now
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Heroes Of Might
A Call of Cthulhu City Guide
ETBA
Chaosium 'se3 001 810 847 7681
Out now
hese Call of
Cthothu city
guides are a great
8c I M a c t I r A PC strategy gann idea, and this one in
particular is full of
superb information
E39.99 U S Gold/New World Computing - ; ; S 0121 628 3366
that's applicable to
Out now P C 886 4Mb RAM CD-Rom & SVGA anyone running acampaign (of any sort)
set in the '20s.
The misrht a masric series of computer roleplaying games returns, You don't need to be playing CoC
to get a lot of use out of this, and
only this time it's not actually a roleplaying game at all_ Chaosium's very straightforward rules
ot, as you might first imagine, a systems mean that you would never have
compilation of old Might & Magic any trouble with conversions to a different
RPGs, b u t an all-new fantasy system. There's even a lot of stuff here
strategy game. The idea of turning that would be useful to a referee wanting
anRPG into a strategy game is not new—SSI have to run modern-day expeditions into Egypt.
been doing it with AD&D for some time—but what The book has over thirty useful
makes this stand out is that it's pretty good. maps and building plans and lots of
From a slightly isometric, overhead viewpoint atmospheric information (the author,
you look down on a world scattered with towns. To Marion Anderson, doesn't just tell you
win, you must capture all your enemies' towns and where the main railway station is in Cairo;
hold them for at least a week. she actually describes what it would have
You control armies led by heroes of four kinds been like to arrive there) and it even
(knights, barbarians, warlocks and sorceresses). offers a gaggle of little scenario ideas.
Troops are supplied to your towns, of which there are At last my catapult has knocked down the walls, Okay, it's not the greatest looking
also four types, each type of town giving a different and my knights can move in. Unfortunately, book that's ever been produced and it
range of units. Human towns, for example, can think that's the end of my archers in the top left_ would have been nice to have a couple of
produce peasants, archers, pikemen, swordsmen, full-length scenarios to give some practical
cavalry or paladins, but which troops you get The fight takes place on a sideways-viewed examples of how to use the material
depends on what buildings you have constructed. battlefield. You move and fight with just one unit at a presented here and to help get the
Taxation of towns produces gold with which to buy time, and it is each unit's initiative and speed which referee started. But those are only minor
more buildings, units and heroes. will determine your success. It's all rather simplistic, niggles and don't detract greatly from a
In addition, most buildings and some units but different combinations of units mean that a fairly very useful and inspiring supplement.
require special resources, which are generated by large range of situations can arise. Steve Faragher S c o r e 8/10
mines that can be claimed by your heroes. The presentation is an odd mix of good and bad.
The game is played in turns which represent a The game runs in high-resolution SVGA throughout, Wyrms Footprints:
so the graphics are highly detailed, but it is let down Gioranthan Legends and Lore
day and is controlled with a very simple point-and- Asourcebook for Gloranthan
click mouse system. You move your heroes around, by some dubious artwork and a generally 'twee' feel. RuneQuest campaigns
discovering more of the map and claiming mines, Some of the background sounds are atmospheric, ETBA
bonus resources and treasure chests whenever you but the music is awful and many of the effects in Chaosiurn 0 5 001 510 6477681
combat are laughable. Out now
find them. If you find a town, or encounter a group of
monsters or an enemy hero, combat ensues. Gameplay is rather limited, and combat largely
comes down to who has the largest number of the indeed, 'twas a
toughest units. But in spite of its problems, Heroes sad day for all
Of might Magic is still a good game. Rune Quest GMs
Its very simplicity, although ultimately limiting, is running Gloranthan
appealing, and the computer opponents are far from campaigns when the
easy to beat. In terms of depth and long-term interest last of Greg
it's not a real challenger to MicroProse's Master Of Stafford's Wyrms
Magic, which it resembles, but it is a whole lot Footnotes went Out of print. Now, more
simpler to get into. A n d y Butcher than 12 years later, some of the finest
articles to appear in the 12 issues of his
magazine have been reprinted.
Score 7/10 Collected together for the first time,
and a must for all GMs of Gloranthan-
based RuneQuest campaigns, this is a
0 V/
r74
GiantCraft
Supplement for AD&D
29.99 T S A 0 1 2 2 3 212517
g 'ants,
Out now
hmmm.
An Earthdawn Been there, GIA:1 TCRA IT
killed them.
Supplement Now let's fight
something a bit
more interesting.
E14.99 FA S A Corp. 0 1 2 1 212 243 5660 O u t now
If that's your
attitude to the big blokes, then Giant-craft
E a r t h d a w n is d o m i n a t e d b y t h e v a s t Theron. E m p i r e . Now, should be allowed to permeate your
gameworld. It offers a refreshingly
p l a y e r s c a n come f a c e - t o - f a c e w i t h t h i s misrhty n a t i o n . . . different perspective on giants.
These are not the two-dimensional,
ky Point & Vivane is the third boxed high hit-dice end-of-campaign bosses
'Campaign Set' f o r FASA's fantasy we've grown accustomed to. They are
roleplaying game Earthdawn. It details the fully fleshed-out stars. And not only does
city of Vivane, the nearby military base of the Giant-craft supplement slip seamlessly
Sky Point and the surrounding area o f Vivane into Forgotten Realms, but also it requires
Province, and it contains new information on the only minimal tweaking to transport all the
Theran Empire and the lands it controls. In addition, bits you want to any AD&D universe.
it provides GMs with advice on incorporating the city Gianteraft tackles every aspect of
into an ongoing Earthdawn campaign, or using it as giant life, from the social structure (the
the starting point for a new one. Ordning) through to the internecine
Lying to the south-west of Barsaive, Vivane was political squabbles that have plagued
the first city to be captured by the Therans in their A C a • t r t i , , , s t ! O R E A R T 1 1 0 , . . , B Y C A R L S A R R E ,
cloud giants of late. It reveals a little of the
original conquest of the area. After the Scourge, Jotunbrud (giant) mythology and the
Theran expeditions returned to annex Barsaive, but aspirations of the various races, and
were beaten back. Vivane is now the Theran details the Ostoria's (the Colossal Empire)
stronghold in the area: Barsaive continues to resist. Vivane' deals with the Old City (now called the rise and fall. Giantcraft invokes a rune-
The situation is one of uneasy peace. Theran Quarter) in a similar way, while Wivane based magic system, debunks anti-giant
The Sky Point & Vivane boxed set is made up of Province' deals with the surrounding area, as well as propaganda and fully fleshes Out the
three books, two maps and a collection of player describing Sky Point and the town of Vrontok that unsatisfactorily brief descriptions in the
hand-outs and props. has sprung up at the base of the huge structure. Monstrous Compendium.
The first map shows Vivane city, the second As with most of FASA's larger releases, it's Sadly, however, Glanteraft lacks
depicts the surrounding area. Each of the books obvious that a great deal of work has gone into this. cohesion and direction. Sure you're told a
deals with a different aspect of the city and its A real effort has been made to create a setting that is lot, but you're told the same lot
environment: 'Barsaivian Vivane' records the history not only imaginative and rich in ideas for adventure, repeatedly. Some sections are plain
of the city and its Theran occupation and features but also internally consistent and logical too. laughable ("Giants are BIG! Get up on
general information about the Theran Empire and its The impression gained is of a real, living place. your chair and loom over the players" -
attitudes towards Barsaive, then goes on to detail the Even reading through the books once is enough to General Role Playing Tips, page 29)
Barsaivian part of the city. (Vivane is still split in two spark a dozen or more ideas in any GM's mind. while others, such as the chapter on
- the original Old City is walled off and is home to the The books are well laid out and easy to read, giant-kin, are plain tedious.
Theran Government and Noble Houses, while the and the maps are clear and lovingly detailed in full Almost by accident, though,
rest is nominally under Barsaivian control.) 'Theran colour. In fact, there are only two problems. The first Giantcraft does manage though to
is the interior black and white art, which is sparse and reinvent one of AD&D's less glamorous
of varying quality. Second, is the ordering of the creatures with a liberal sprinkling of great
books. 'Barsaivian Vivane' comes first, but contains a ideas, anecdotal character descriptions
fair amount of information about the Therans. Odd. and veiled hints (who or what is behind
All the same, Sky Point & Vivane is a great the Twilight Spirit? What secrets could a
supplement. The central conflict makes the place great wizard glean from the Levendhule,
hugely interesting, and it's packed full of enough the living wall? What great treasures are
information and ideas to provide a solid base for a held by the cloud giant fortress that
whole campaign. A n d y Butcher crashed in the Anauroch desert?)
The lack of focus and reptitive
nature force Glantcraft from the 'must
Splitting information
books makes it easy to find what you're took Score 8/10 read' list but next time you want an
inspiration hit, you should find it here.
Trenton Webb Score 6/10
757;i,
Campaign
Dungeon Designer
Expansion Osk for
Carnpalgn Cartographer
219.05 Prorantasy Software
0171237 0027 O u t now
s
E49.95 ProFantasy Software - t * 0171 227 0027 O u t now
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e= PC 386 and VGA
Creating starship deck-plans or an office 4 aps are a vital accessory for roleplaying
tower is lust as simple as a fully fledged games, but sadly not all of us have the
dungeon complete with secret rooms, artistic skills to draw our own effectively. a t
.EDO.
The new tools are relatively simple to make designing and updating maps of all scales a
to use, and very powerful. Layouts can be simple task - and it succeeds admirably.
sketched out by drawing centre lines Initial impressions are not promising. It appears Becauseyou're able to edit maps simply and easily,
which are later converted into corridors of to be little more than a jumped-up paint package, and youcan start off small and gradually build up to
varying widths, complete with walls of at over 150 pages the heavyweight manual is quite this level of detail and complexity.
differing thickness and intersections. off-putting (though if you take time to skip through it,
Arange of new tools makes it trivially you'll find it explains everything clearly with many do as a specific 'entity', which can then be selected,
simple to connect these things to each examples). But it is, in fact, a fully functional 2D moved, changed or deleted at any time. Much better.
other precisely. Computer Aided Design package, with many features In addition, Campaign Cartographer implements
In addition, there's a new design and tools that are normally only found in software the concept of 'layers'. Each map is made up of a
system that lets you lay out maps using a costing more than £500. Paint packages let you number of pictures that are overlaid, and you can
collection of modular icons in hardly any draw, but generally once something's been done it's display these layers individually or in groups. This
time at all, and a variable scaling system part of the picture, and editing or changing it is very makes it easy to, for example, create a map showing
that means you can print out the designs hard. CAD packages work by defining everything you secret or undiscovered areas on a separate layer.
at precisely the right size to be used with On the down side, the program does take a
different scales of miniatures. while to learn - some tools and features are
Dungeon Designer doesn't really ,( *s ,i Te
t u a t e d o n t h e QuadriteCommons)(
m p l e of Gathzar M
r complicated until you get the hang of them - and it
enable you to create anything that you can be tricky to design towns and buildings because
couldn't already have done using the program lacks the tools to make working at these
Campaign Cartographer, but it does make scales simple. There's also a strong bias towards
it almost immeasurably simpler. Basically, fantasy genres, but this is far from insurmountable.
it does for floorplans what Campaign All the same, Campaign Cartographer is an
Cartographer does for large-scale maps, incredible program. It really does make it easy to
enabling you to draw anything - from a create highly detailed maps of anything from a planet
small cave system to the deck plans of a to a small forest. For systems such as Earthdawn or
vast spaceship - both accurately and Traveller: The New Era, where exploration is an
extraordinarily quickly. inherent part of the game, this could be an incredibly
Considering how often these kind of handy program. A n d y Butcher
I The Temple
maps are needed in most games, this 2 Barracks
3 High Cleric', Abode
makes Dungeon Designer even more
useful than Campaign Cartographer for
4 Stables and Storage
5 ao deep moat
6 Barbican
840' Toyer
9 20' Outer • 11 Score 8i
7 Graveyard
most garners, which is high praise indeed.
Andy Butcher S c o r e 9/10
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arcane brings you the
, rrk.The inventor of Magic: The e x r J oworld
i n usofasthe
wefanzine
exploreand
thereveal the
twilight
Gathering. Richard tells us what inspired best to the blazing light of public adoration...
him and how he feels about the way it's all
turned out. And it all ties in perfectly with Plus our usual blend of exhaustive news
our extensive LWiti) and definitive reviews, somewhat
Homelands review. plumped up by the onset of Christmas...
W h e rdefinitive
e ' l l befive-part
part twoworld-building
of our There's our second encounter, The Golden
feature with hints and tips on how to Dragon Inn. A fully fleshed-out location for
make monsters work for you. exciting roleplaying in the past, present and
future, this tavern has everything you need to
.,k1; Sitsvotaut, S t . 0 . ar- We'll have a guide to the 10 most form a focus for your campaign or to use as
ri
"rhe SPirit Cnitten
t d t
thene e
o arr
P i ridiculous skills ever published in a somewhere for your players to drop by and
• b e ••
roleplaying game, from 'arcane have a swift half. And it's even bigger than
mutterings' to 'looking innocent'. this month's...
Wanted WRITE YOUR FREE A D HERE U S I N G ONE BOX PER W O R D IN BLOCK CAPITALS
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It's at least 50p cheaper per issue than if you Rest of World 12 issues E58.75 6 issues 0 0 . 5 0
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There's no need to trudge down the Address
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feel or atmosphere. Although most his dusty sense of humour, his remote sense of honour, and his castle. He is as
poisonous as the fog bordering his lands.
"And if there was anything Liriel enjoyed, Beautifully written, dark, and tragic; and thoroughly recommended to
it was a good fight. Weapons in hand, the vampire hunters everywhere. G i d e o n Kibblewhite Score 8/10
drow inched her way down the tunnel"
of the action takes place deep within caverns of the Underdark, there is
no fear, mystery or suspense. There are plenty of wands, portals and Superman/Doomsday - Hunter/Prey
monsters, but alone they are not enough to engage the reader. by Jurgens/Breeding Published by Titan Books
There are, though, some good moments; like the spectacular duel Paperback E9.99 O u t now
between tow wizards in the centre of a volcano, or the scene when, as
Gromph is about to cast his daily spell to re-start the city clock, a flock ve never been a fan of Superman. He has always belonged way too firmly to
of evil spider-priestesses fly by on magic discs. PI some kind of mythical American past, where anything is achievable, mankind
Unfortunately, such moments are few and far between and fail to is genuinely, irrevocably good and heroes are not only square-jawed, athletic and
lift the story out of the ordinary. G i d e o n Kibblewhite white, but also possess irreproachable motives.
Now that we're approaching the end of the millennium and the world is
Score 4/10 taking a distinctly darker turn (ooer), the traditional superhero seems even more
of an anachronism. You'll believe a man can fly? Only if he's done too much acid.
And in the full realisation that Superman seems a little... well... corny these
t
The Book of lod What's in a Name?, is far too preoccupied with his seduction of a cat warrior to
worry about how many lives he could lose to her claws, or whether her
boyfriend might have a bolt of lightning up his sleeve.
by Henry Kuttner P u b l i s h e d by Chaosium In fact any of the absorbing aspects of Magic which could be discussed in
Paperback E7.95 O u t now fiction, such as the relative strengths of, and possible interactions between, the
different colours of magic, are wholly brushed over. Tapestries plumps for the
straightforward approach of borrowing the odd name or setting and occasionally,
tz) ather a fine collection of stories, this is the latest offering
from Chaosium in its 'Cthulhu Cycle Books' series. Kuttner when the author is feeling adventurous, including the concept of mana.
was a young man Don't be put off if you have never shuffled a Magic deck: but then again,
profoundly influenced don't expect to gain anything from it if you have. B e n Rodd S c o r e 5/10
by HP Lovecraft, who became a
member of the Lovecraft circle in
the year before the Grand Old Man
of Horror died. Kuttner submitted Shroud Of Madness
—
several manuscripts to Lovecraft for by Carl Sargent & Marc Gasgoine P u b l i s h e d by FASA
The Eater of Souls & other tales Paperback 24.99 O u t now
approval and had many of his stories
published in Strange Stories and HENRY
Weird Tales. KHMER
HOT METAL
arcane'smonthly guide to the newest and best
in fantasy miniatures, with Karen Newis
Games Workshop Mail Order V P ) 01773 713213 Reaper Miniatures, Texas I t ! ! ) 001 214 434 3088
Mithril Miniatures have come good with this wonderfully posed dragon. Okay, Key White, take a bow. Now put an arrow in it and shoot the idiot who ruined
so the scales aren't hugely detailed, and the leg joints are a little odd, but the your lovely sculpting in the casting process. Beautiful though the Barbarian
wings are magnificent. Actually shaped and articulated, these wings Heroes (3101) must have been before casting - and can be again - they're not
could really shift some air. The head is just great, and recommended for novice painters
the whole thing is believable, because the casts are heavy with flash.
interesting, animated... and The chap with two handaxes is
gorgeous. Scatha is not pre- magnificent, with a very good face
undercoated and some fairly (quite Sean Connery, really). The detail
intricate assembly and filling is that has gone into his belt is superb, and
required. But just do it, then sit the pose, though static, is quite believable.
back and enjoy! Also in the pack of three are a bald, skirted
madman wielding a large sword and an extremely
Mithril Miniatures, Ireland bulky chap with a deerskin headdress.
1 1
Anew range at GenCon this year: Victory (3300), Judgement (3301), Law The Figure Company, eh? Well, they were up all night thinking of that name,
3302), Grace (3303), Archangel of Light (3304) and Avenging Archangel weren't they? Also known as Alternative Armies, The Figure Company have
(3305). All are well sculpted, but casting is below par, especially for new recently branched out into racial slander. Why should Scottish folk accept
moulds. Still, nice to see that at last someone has worked out that it is possible being portrayed as RATMEN? How dare they?!
to cast winged creatures in one piece without resorting to the 'road-rollered' To support the soon-to-be-published Flintloque game, these are kilted
ook. 'Course, no-one's perfect, and the Avenging Archangel needs one wing rodents wearing ridiculous feathered turban-shaped 'bunnets'. The Gordon's
attached. Shown are the Angel of Victory (with the sword ) and the Angel of Highlanders (36882) are, I am told, a humorous parody of our fierce and
Grace (the one with the harp). The designer has resisted the urge to fudge the savage race. My indignation knows no bounds.
detail in complicated bits, as you can see from the detail of Victory. Not quite That aside, the figures are designed nicely by Mark Kay, with clean,
an industry first, but close. surprisingly intricate detail, and are competently cast.
1
RAFM Company Mc, C a n a d a - e t ) 001 519 623 4832 Alternative Armies ( 0 1 1 5 9 ) 287809 rch,
Good, clean, anatomically correct (if a little exaggerated) detail - yahoo! To support their new 25mm tabletop fantasy battle game, Leviathan, Grendel
Nice touches on the design front, and kinky little extra bits that you simply are bringing out some quite splendid critters, mostly cast in resin. Eschewing
don't expect: this I like. Like the Heroes, Barbarian Raiders (3102) are not 'standard' fantasy strictures, Razorback Riders (20008) are a good example.
nillliantly cast (well, okay, they're appallingly cast by today's standards) but A huge punk boar with rhinoceros skin and Conan's little brother sitting astride,
Dersevere; it's worth it. The last of the three is very definitely a Conan, despite it's simply excellent. You'll get two in a pack and they'll be surprisingly cheap.
-_-c somewhat mincing facial expression. Very, very fine detail and casting, but you expect nothing less from those once
known as Fantasy Forge. You can actually see the eyes behind the helmet.
Harlequin Miniatures l e ) 0115 942 2119 I e,
b u m p = 5TPR5HIP5
pecia lists in
+ Fantasy + Science Fiction + W a r Games + Magic +
+ Star Trek and o t h e r collectible card games
coming in for some stick here) we don't know to 100 people and can run for a few hours to
why they dropped Man O'War. Perhaps a whole weekend. Here're some oT the things people
they'd care to write in and tell us... We hope that arcane w i l l cover have been saying on our forum
Interactive Literature i n i t s roleplaying about whether card games ore
coverage, and not just report on traditional killing roleplaying...
LARP dungeoneering. We also hope that
I s t a r t e d b y p l a y i n g RPGs b u t a
Dear arcane, we've piqued people's interest in this form of
Interactive Literature - also known as Live f r i e n d o f m i n e g o t me i n t e r e s t e d i n
gaming. Having played in a few games small
M,TG a n d s o n o w I d o b o t h . O k a y ,
Action or Freeform Roleplaying - hasn't had and large, we joined the Interactive Literature
much coverage so far in Britain. Yet in Foundation (ILF), which is based in America i f your
If you want to
opinions toadd
the o k a y, o k a y , I ' m a M a g i c a d d i c t a n d
index.html Dave C o u c h s c o u c h @ i b m . n e t
by a team including Sandy Petersen of Call of you can run on your own: it also produces a
Cthulho and Doom fame. It was run over newsletter and organises events.
here by a team led by Kevin jacklin. We know that this sounds like a huge Like most people here, I started on
chanced t o m e e t . I loved i t , I
such as The Maltese Falcon, Key Largo, The get many more people hooked on it so that
Thin Man and Think Fast Mr Moto, as well as there are more Interactive Literature games r e a l l y d i d ; b u t t h e n came t h e
the titular Casablanca. Each character has his for us to play in! deluge, a n d l i k e s o many o t h e r
crud
or her own background, skills and goals, and Paul Snow and Heidi Kaye genres, i t ' s n o w g o t some r e a l
i n t h e r e . S t i l l , INWO i s o n e o f t h e
spends the playing time interacting with the
m o s t f u n / s i n i s t e r g a m e s I ' v e EVER
other players, all trying to make their own It all sounds great, and arcane does intend to
run some features on LARP, but we have two played, RPG o r n o t .
goals happen. Although s i x 'directors'
justicar@cdp-ltd.demon.co.uk
gamesmaster the event, most of the action problems. First, where do people get hold of
happens solely between player characters. this Interactive Literature Foundation, and
It's like all the N PCs are PCs. If you'd like to write I d o n ' t have t h e d r i v e o r t h e
second, i f there's only three of you in Britain,
Rules are at a minimum, with no dice of how much interest will it be to our readers? TE for arcane rather than p a t i e n c e t o p l a y c a r d games, b u t
rolling and just the simple mechanic o f We'd like to hear from anyone who thinks it simply writing to us, e v i d e n t l y some o f t h e members o f m y
huy@satyrs.cs.csufresno.edu
derogatory). Instead, it is much closer in feel promoting arcane on the WWW. I wondered hoping to write for us,
to the murder mystery dinner parties. It's not whether you have yet decided whether you though, so make sure
just for devoted roleplayers and can appeal intend to feature live roleplaying systems on you really impress us. R o l e p l a y e r s " h a t e " CCGs m o s t l y
because t h e y d i s t r a c t p l a y e r s f r o m
to people who like to act, enjoy mysteries, a regular basis?
RPGs. I t h i n k . M i n d y o u , CCGs d o
and/or don't think of themselves as liking Perhaps sending one or more people
to sample adventures at a variety of systems t e n d t o p r o v i d e RPGers w i t h a f a i r
(tabletop) roleplaying games.
amount o f a m m u n i t i o n . L e g e n d a r y
People w h o don't roleplay enjoy and then asking them t o report on their
overheard statement; " R a g e i s g r e a t !
murder mystery weekend breaks at hotels findings would be a pleasing format?
where they watch actors play out a story and D P Rowbottom, I t ' s l i k e Werewolf, b u t w i t h o u t a n y
because t h e y w a n t t o m a x i m i s e t h e i r
cash i n h a n d t o p u r c h a s e t h e l a t e s t
CCG r e l e a s e s . . .
phil@philm.demon.co.uk
If you'd like to get in touch with us there are several ways. The most traditional
is to send us a letter addressed to arcane, 30 M o n m o u t h St, Bath BAI 2 B W.
The slightly more technically advanced can send us a fax on (01225) 446019,
while all you fully fledged InfoCyberOtakuNauts out there can e-mail us at
arcane@futurenet.co.uk or visit our web site on
http://www.futureriet.co.uk/eritertainrnerit/arcane.htrnl.
We look forward to hearing from you.
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