This month’s particular attraction is “Chagmat,” an AD&D journey by Larry DiTillio. Spider creatures referred to as the chagmat have kidnapped a number of ladies from the village, and the characters should invade an historic temple to retrieve them. The setup might sound typical, however the execution is great. The temple is well-realized, with many intriguing concepts and enjoyable tips. My solely important criticism is verbosity. You’d have a peerless one-shot journey if the textual content had been extra concise.
Let’s take a look on the different options! First is “The place the bandits are,” a 1-page overview of the Bandit Kingdoms within the World of Greyhawk. Sadly, there isn’t a byline, however it’s doubtless by Gary Gygax or Rob Kuntz.
“A shifty character to your marketing campaign” by Tom Armstrong and Roger Moore introduces the Bandit NPC class. The end result is sort of a fighter/thief with just a few of the ranger’s out of doors abilities thrown in. Nevertheless, it isn’t very fascinating in comparison with among the NPC courses in earlier points.
“Level of View: the humanoids” by Roger Moore describes the “targets and gods” of the kobolds, goblins, hobgoblins, & gnolls. It introduces the deity Kurtulmak and provides new details about the gods Maglubiyet and Yeenoghu. This text is the final of the “Level of View” collection and is barely extra abbreviated than earlier entries. Even so, it was nonetheless extremely influential.
In “Plan earlier than you play,” Ed Greenwood encourages DMs to create their very own marketing campaign worlds and take the difficulty to outline issues corresponding to politics, commerce routes, and social customs. He offers an prolonged instance of world-building with numerous recommendation. It is all strong, although my desire for world design is a “bottom-up” method the place you begin small and develop as wanted.
“Jolly good gaming journals” by Gary Gygax is a short overview of two beginner British gaming journals. Dragon Lords is “a nicely accomplished beginner effort which appears bent on bettering itself and the passion,” whereas Thunderstruck is “solidly geared toward offering materials to assist in working campaigns.”
Gygax additionally critiques two films in “A few incredible flops.” Conan the barbarian was “a terrific disappointment,” whereas The Sword & The Sorcerer “wasn’t all that significantly better.” He takes the chance to hype the deliberate Dungeons & Dragons film, due “someday in late 1984 or 1985.”
In “Pc video games have a approach to go,” Michael B. Bentley displays on the state of pc sport growth utilizing what’s presumably an alter-ego, Fibber McGee. It’s an idiosyncratic piece that ends with the specification for a generic “Sport Grasp’s Helper” – a purpose basically realized with trendy on-line marketing campaign organizers.
Following this piece is “The Electrical Eye” by Mark Herro, which incorporates an inventory for a High Secret character generator. This text is the final one within the collection and seems to be Herro’s last revealed contribution to the passion.
“For the sake of change” by David Nallo gives a concise historical past of coinage within the western world. It is somewhat dry however is efficacious grist for the world-building mill.
On to the common choices! “Featured Creatures” by Gary Gygax makes its debut on this concern and can embody new monsters from the upcoming Monster Guide II. This time round, Gygax presents the Movanic, Monadic, and Astral Devas.
Additionally by Gygax is “The massive, unhealthy barbarian,” which introduces the eponymous class to the sport. The barbarian later appeared in Think about journal and was revealed in Unearthed Arcana.
“Greyhawk’s World” by Rob Kuntz describes latest occasions within the jap and southern Flanaess. It is unclear whether or not these mirrored the continued Lake Geneva marketing campaign or had been manufactured by Kuntz.
“Leomund’s Tiny Hut” is again, with Len Lakofka discussing Charisma. He presents tables that derive traits corresponding to facial look and vocal high quality from a PC’s Charisma rating and in addition suggests the way it may work together with spells and psionics.
“Dragon’s Augury” incorporates a single overview by Tony Watson. Simba Safari, a Traveller journey from Judges Guild, is “one of many higher Judges Guild tasks of latest classic, regardless of some weaknesses in characterization and animal descriptions.”
This month’s cowl was by James Warhola. Inside artists embody Phil Foglio, Paul Sonju, Roger Raupp, Darlene Pekul, David Trampier, Steve Peregrine, Bruce Whitefield, Jim Holloway, Don Polcino, David Larson, and Ataniel A. Noel.
And that is a wrap! One other substantial concern, with my favourite article being the brand new barbarian class. Subsequent month, now we have new weapons, the murderer’s run, and a sport by Tom Wham!
