This month’s particular attraction is King of the Tabletop, a board sport by Tom Wham and Robert Kuntz. In it, you play as a noble trying to develop your area and enhance your status. Accumulate gold, construct cities, and go to struggle. This extremely regarded sport was later expanded and printed as Kings & Issues by West Finish Video games and gained an Origins award.
In “The Tarot of Many Issues,” Michael J. Lowrey particulars the construction, historical past, and varied makes use of of the tarot deck, emphasizing its mystical and divinatory qualities. He then describes each card within the Main and Minor Arcana and associates it with a D&D impact. For instance, in the event you draw the Magician card, you acquire 1 further level of intelligence (2 in case you are a magic person). A few of the results are fairly complicated and enjoyable. It is an apparent concept however very effectively executed. Lowrey wrote a pair extra articles for Dragon and has been lively in fandom ever since.
“Curses!” by Ed Greenwood is a group of 20 minor curses the DM can bestow upon unwary characters. The aim is inconvenience fairly than punishment. For instance, “One piece of paper (scroll, map, web page of spell guide, and many others.) carried by the social gathering is erased, turning into immediately clean,” or “One character is confused (6 rounds) or feebleminded or loses consciousness (2-8 rounds) instantly.”
On the identical theme, Richard Fichera’s “Nasty additions to a DM’s arsenal” shares some inventive cursed objects on your D&D marketing campaign. One in all his extra odious objects is the Ring of Gaseous Kind—as soon as you employ it, you and the ring change into gasoline, so you may’t take it off! Fichera printed a number of extra articles in Dragon and an journey in Dungeon journal.
“Elemental Gods” by Nonie Quinlan describes the pantheon she has created for her dwelling marketing campaign, which she claims is extra participating and credible for gamers than the printed options. Her proposed gods are non-corporeal, omnipotent, and proof against bodily hurt—which clearly influences how gamers work together with them! In Quinlan’s pantheon, there are simply 4 gods (based mostly on the 4 components), every with good and evil features. It is a considerate system and should attraction to these uninterested in D&D’s crowded corridor of gods. Quinlan later contributed to a Champions sourcebook referred to as Champions in 3-D.
“A brand new sport with a well-known title” by Frank Mentzer describes the upcoming revised Primary and Professional Units from TSR. He asserts they designed this version to be much more accessible than the earlier ones, permitting gamers to be taught the sport with out prior information or expertise. Improvements embrace a guided state of affairs and a extra narrative-focused strategy to explaining the principles.
“Spy’s Recommendation” by Merle Rasmussen solutions readers Prime Secret questions. It contains queries reminiscent of “How lengthy would a flash grenade blind a personality?” and “How do you identify if an agent has made a profitable parachute leap?” As I learn this, I puzzled why “spy” RPGs went out of vogue after being a big class within the 80s.
Let’s transfer on to the common choices! In “The Ecology of the Unicorn,” Roger Moore particulars this legendary woodland creature. The article describes an encounter between a dryad and an adventurer, with the dryad delivering a lecture on the unicorn’s varied qualities. A brief appendix accommodates some D&D-specific particulars. There may be some useful data, however that is a lot much less wealthy than the earlier article on the beholder.
This problem contains two sport critiques:
- Hârn by Columbia Video games Inc. affords an immersive, medieval-style marketing campaign world with a meticulously detailed atmosphere. The $20 bundle features a full-color map of Hârn—an island the scale of Madagascar—together with two booklets: the Hârndex, which is a complete information to the area’s geography, tradition, and historical past, and the Hârnview, offering insights into its societies and the gameplay mechanics. The map is beautiful and virtually well worth the excessive worth by itself. Reviewer Roger Moore says, “Hârn units a excessive customary in marketing campaign complexity and authenticity, promising an enticing expertise for gamers.”
- Plague of Terror by The Companions is an $8.50 system-generic fantasy journey centered round a troubled village referred to as Wentworth. The module is wealthy with subplots and detailed NPCs, although the complexity makes it difficult for even seasoned referees. Furthermore, it accommodates depictions of maximum violence and abuse. Moore says, “I can’t suggest this module for inexperienced role-players or these uncomfortable with graphic content material.”
Jerry Eaton painted this month’s cowl. Inside artists embrace Phil Foglio, Roger Raupp, Dave Trampier, and Tom Wham.
And that is a wrap! This problem felt somewhat light-weight relating to articles, however King of the Tabletop greater than offset this. Within the subsequent problem, we now have a brand new AD&D journey and psionic guidelines!
