Its White Dwarf’s fifth birthday! So, as is conventional they embrace a suggestions coupon this difficulty for readers to air their ideas. They are going to really be including one each difficulty now, mainly providing an possibility to present every article a mark out of ten. In addition to breaking open a couple of circumstances of ale, they’re printing a couple of particular t-shirts and giving some away to the primary ten readers to write down in with accomplished suggestions coupons. Has anybody on the market nonetheless obtained one?
On the Cowl
A port metropolis at evening rises over the ocean as a small boat approaches. The town is constructed on two hills, that are each full of homes and an imposing fortress. Lights are scattered throughout the multitude of home windows, particularly from a separate constructing on a small island within the foreground. The artist is Alan Howcroft, and that is his solely cowl for White Dwarf. Alan now not seems to be working as an artist, however he often is the identical Alan Howcroft who has since gone into script writing (and/or turn out to be a martial arts prize fighter!)
Options
- Arms on the Prepared (Lew Pulsipher): This text is mainly a sequence of tables for assaults in AD&D (keep in mind 1st version had tables to roll on by class and stage as a substitute of a set THACO). These tables are organised by weapon as a substitute, and whereas they’re an fascinating shift in how the tables are used, I’m unsure it was that advanced within the first place to make these any easier.
- Prior Service in Traveller (John Conquest): An adaptation of the character creation guidelines for service within the armed forces in Traveller. I’m unsure it’s particularly helpful, though it gives a greater promotion system and a much-reduced probability of dying in character creation.
- The Mad Dwarf (Ken St Andre): A solitaire preventing fantasy model journey for Tunnels & Trolls, written throughout the underside of a number of pages of this difficulty. It’s a enjoyable, if fairly darkish and brutal quick journey and really gratifying to play.
- The City Planner Half 1: Designing and Operating Villages (Paul Vernon): Whereas ostensibly a brand new sequence of articles, this actually follows on from the earlier pair of economics articles. This primary half seems to be at creating villages, the place they’re discovered, how they survive and what you may encounter there. All nice background questions to contemplate to make your villages really feel extra actual.
- Treasure Entice (Ian Livingstone): Ian Livingstone has a go at Treasure Entice, one of many first industrial LARP occasions at Peckforton Fortress in Cheshire. Blue Peter presenters Simon Groom and Peter Duncan would even have a go a 12 months later in 1983 (there are movies of their expertise on YouTube). The system is sort of intelligent, as monsters have paint on their weapons, so put up battle the referee counts marks on the participant’s costumes. Monsters are trusted to fall over once they get hit. It seems to be like an ideal immersive expertise, and the system will unfold to college campuses lengthy after this model closes in 1985. Whereas quick lived, it undoubtedly based a legacy amongst at present’s LARP scene.
Regulars
- Character Conjuring: No character conjuring this difficulty once more and searching forward nothing subsequent difficulty. So it seems to be like that one has quietly been minimize to make method for Runenrites.
- Letters: This difficulty is readers’ questions on AD&D, particularly using psionics (which not often obtained any use because it was so exhausting to amass) and using the Phantasmal Power spell. The pc article debate will get one other point out and one other reader has a problem with a earlier letter on fight rounds. Nevertheless, the identical reader means that White Dwarf ought to carry extra articles for different video games like Fantasy Journey and High Secret. It’s fascinating that the journal did very effectively primarily supporting primarily simply AD&D, Traveller and Runequest. Unsure you might discover three video games with that stage of market share at present.
- Information: Midguardian turns into “The Star” this difficulty with a packed collection of information. Gary Gygax personally DM’ed the finals of the Video games Truthful ’82 conference competitors at Studying. Video games Workshop opens a brand new department in Manchester and shall be creating a brand new Decide Dredd sport. I think about they imply the board sport because it releases in 1982 and I’ve not seen adverts for it on this difficulty (the RPG will come out in 1985). Eon Merchandise and Chaosium each have releases popping out referred to as “Borderlands” though one is a board sport and the opposite is a Runequest complement. Activity Power Video games has a literal armada of house fight video games on the best way too. Considered one of TSR’s golden figures has been present in in Blackpool, there could also be extra of those gold plated promotional figures nonetheless on the market. Ragnorok Enterprises who make the Abyss fanzine are attempting their hand at an RPG to be made in six booklets referred to as Ysgarth (it’s going to see a sixth version in 1995!). Lastly, Puffin books are releasing a brand new solo gamebook by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone referred to as “The Warlock of Firetop Mountain” (I feel it’d do fairly effectively you realize).
- Runerites: This difficulty we’ve an inventory of rewards and punishment a cult may hand out for many who comply with or break its tenets. Whereas that is helpful primarily for Runequest, the element right here may work for different video games too, or different organisations or religions.
- Starbase: Starbase takes a take a look at some totally different sensor programs your ship may need, from scanning for minerals to getting a good suggestion how broken an enemy may be. There are a variety of helpful concepts right here. I particularly like making gamers choose their scanner capabilities as not like Star Trek they aren’t multi-functional and few crews can afford all of them.
- Treasure Chest: We return to extra amulets and talismans this difficulty, with six necklaces on your adventures: Amulet of Spell Deflection (50% spell immunity!), Talisman of Urdaeus (turn out to be a snake upon dying and kill your killer), Amulet of the Astral Airplane (bonus save vs Astral creatures), Talisman of the Eye (safety from evil and switch undead), Talisman of Muren-Shi (buff merchandise for LG clerics) and the Amulet of Magical Precognition (grants clues for what an unknown magic merchandise may be, very good concept). Each the Talisman of Urdaeus and the Amulet of the Astral Airplane additionally element their stats as referring to Lew Pulsipher’s Amulet and Talismans article in White Dwarf #29.
Fiend Manufacturing facility
We’ve extra mini-adventure than monsters this week. “In Search of a Idiot” sends the participant characters after a misplaced faerie bard who has been seduced away from their court docket by a faerie vampire.
- Daoine Sidhe (Daniel Collerton) These are faerie knights and women, with a robust collection of arms, armour and psychic talents, together with some magic.
- Dendridi (Phil Masters) A reasonably cute subspecies of gnomes who stay near flora as a substitute of underground. Very druidic, and would make a pleasant PC species.
- Leanan Sidhe (Craig Cartmell) A type of fey vampire who can cover in mirrors. A barely odd assortment of talents however she’s rattling cool as a creature.
- Lorelei Willow (Roger E. Moore) A carnivorous willow tree that ensnares with its vines after luring prey shut my mimicking requires misery.
Open Field
This month’s opinions are:
- Federation Area, Wargame (Activity Power Video games): This can be a “sister sport” to Star Fleet Battles, widening the scope to armada battles as a substitute of ship to ship. Technique is performed out on this sport, and the ship-to-ship fights might be run utilizing SFB.
- Ordeal by Eshaar, Motion Aboard, Uragyad’n of the Seven Pillars, The Legend of the Sky Raiders, Adventures (FASA): These 4 standalone adventures are within the ordinary Traveller booklet model however created by FASA. Everybody appears to be getting in on the third-party Traveller motion today. Bob McWilliams thinks the primary two are okay and the final two are excellent.
- Thieves Guild (I, II, III & IV) and Free Metropolis of Haven, RPG Complement (Gamelords Inc): This may be one of many first actual makes an attempt to shift to metropolis and political adventures (coupled with Thieves World beforehand). The modules largely assume the PCs are rogues and thieves and have interaction with encounters via guile as a substitute of fight. There shall be ten of those adventures finally. The Free Metropolis of Haven is a setting complement detailing a large chunk of town the modules are set in. It’ll see a rereleased as a boxed set quickly after. As reviewer Lew Pulsipher says, they may not be for everybody, however they’re “a boon to the minority of FRPers at whom they’re aimed”.
Lastly, among the many suggestions kinds and varied adverts is a job advert for a Product Improvement Supervisor at TSR (UK). I observe this primarily because the specs present us a bit extra about life as a sport designer in 1982. The job will contain working the division creating adventures and {a magazine} and managing a Prestel database for the participant’s affiliation. It’s essential to know AD&D after all, but in addition know a couple of different video games in addition to having good writing and grammar abilities. They’re additionally searching for somebody with good mission administration experience who could make concise advisory studies (no matter they’re). They’re additionally searching for microcomputer abilities and programming capability so TSR is embracing the digital revolution.
