White Dwarf Wednesday #16

We open the 80s with White Dwarf #16 for Dec 1979/Jan 1980.
First up we notice another step up in the cover art.

We have a few pages of ads and the editorial begins on page 7. Ian Livingstone talks about how WD was voted the best games magazine in the recent Game Day Awards.  The questionnaire they did a few months back is reprinted here (later in the magazine) and they want to get feedback.

Lew Pulsipher has 3 pages on monsters from the Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever series for AD&D. I was always one of those people who stopped reading the book after the rape of Lena so I have no idea if these are on target or not.  The monsters though look like they will work and there is quite a bit of them.

Andy Slack gives us more of the Traveller Universe with Social Class and Psionics.  These articles, while neat, are all over the place.  Maybe it is my modern sensibilities or just me in particular, but I would have enjoyed these more if there had been some organization to them.

A table of Boot Hill encounters is next from Dominic Beddow.  This is generic enough to be used in any system  dealing with the Wild West.  I might try this in Ghosts one day, I have had a desire to have an adventure in America.

Dominic continues the Boot Hill love with an 8/10 review in Open Box. Also reviewed are GDW's Imperium (9/10) and Snapshot (8/10).  The biggie is Don Turnbull's review of the AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide.  The book is "Not Applicable" for a review since, by Turnbull's thoughts, this is a book everyone needs. So basically it got WDs first "11/10".

A mini-adventure "The Paths of the Lil" from James Ward is next.  It deals with with some new mutants from the Gamma World game, the Lil, and an area they inhabit to investigate.  It's an interesting little mix of Gamma World and D&D to be honest.  The Lil are fae like creatures.  The adventure could be used with D&D for low level character with no problems, even with kids.

The Fiend Factory is back with only two pages of monsters.  The odd "Tenser Beast" which is a monster of Tenser's Floating Disk.  The Man Scorpion, which is not the same as other creatures I have seen like it. The Ogress, the offspring of a male ogre and a female human with some disguise ability. The Wrecker, a specialized Iron Golem and the Plant Man, which is part plant and part man, natch.

Pictures from Games Day V are posted. Including White Dwarf winning the best Games Magazine.  Letters follow that.
The questionnaire is printed on page 25.  Typicall range, what do you like the best, what do you like the least. Favorite games, would you like to see a comic strip.

After that, more ads.

I certainly feel WD is lacking something at the stage that I saw in earlier editions and what I know I'll see in later ones.  It seems kind of in a rut at the moment.

Talk to me about C&C

My son's group has moved from Pathfinder, to ACKs and now to Castles & Crusades.

I recall playing around with this game a little bit when it first came out.  But now I see there are a bunch of new 4th printing covers that are green.  Are they any different?

I have the Castle Keepers Guide and I have Tainted Lands.  The C&C books that came with that are all that I have.  For the record I was not thrilled with Tainted Lands.  It just never really jelled with me I guess.

So tell me about it.  What appeals to me is the 1st edition feel of it, but still taking advantage of the progress made in 3rd Edition.

This is what I have on my current "wish list", I think this could keep me set.

• Castles & Crusades Players Handbook (4th) (how is this different than what came in my TL box?)
• Castles & Crusades Monsters & Treasure
• Castles & Crusades Classic Monsters The Manual (and how is this different than the one above?)
• Castles & Crusades Of Gods & Monsters

My son really loves it, but I have also suspected for some time that our next game is going to be either AD&D1 or a very modified version of 3.x (more modified that what I have now I guess).

So talk me.  Tell me what you like, what you hate.  If you are from Troll Lord then this is your chance to sell me and my readers on your game!

May DriveThruRPG May Sale

Here are the DriveThruRPG sales for May.
You can purchase any or all of these products for 20% off.
Please use the following code: DriveThruApril (yes, "April")

Savage Worlds Fantasy Companion [Pinnacle Entertainment]
Realms of Cthulhu [Reality Blurs]
Karma Roleplaying System Core [Bards and Sages]
FantasyCraft [Crafty Games]
Fat Dragon's Dragonshire Deluxe [Fat Dragon Games]
Paths of Power (Pathfinder System) [4 Winds Fantasy]
Spycraft: Real American H.E.R.O.es [Crafty Games]
Fellowship of the White Star Campaign Book [Thenodrin Presents]
Ninja Burger RPG (2nd Edition) [aetherial FORGE]
Heavy Gear Blitz! Locked & Loaded [Dream Pod 9]
Hero's Handbook: Dragonborn [Goodman Games]
Splicers RPG [Palladium Books]
Noir Knights (Savage Worlds) [Savage Mojo]

The winner of my contest this month was picked before I even got a chance to announce it.

In honor of my Mystic Locale Halfway, I wanted to pick the follower that is Halfway to Hell, follower #333.
That is Andrea from The Enchanted Writer.  She gets a $10 gift code for DriveThruRPG!

Enjoy!

First Loves Blogfest

http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/2012/04/friendly-to-z-challenge-and-next.html

Here are my first loves

First Album I loved: Thomas Dolby "The Golden Age of Wireless"

First Movie: Star Wars (I have no idea what "A New Hope" is...;) )

First Book: The Hobbit

First Person: Harder, I mean after all the first people you love are your family. So let's go with first person outside of your family. And that can only be...

BATGIRL!

Specifically, Yvonne Craig's Batgirl from the Adam West Batman TV series.
What's not to love?  She is smart and kicks ass.  Plus she rode a purple motor cycle before Prince was even born (ok, I might need to re-check that date but you get what I am trying to say  ETA: ok, Prince was only about 8-9 at the time.)

Zatannurday: Sindella

Last Mother's Day weekend I mentioned a bit about Zatanna's often absent mother Sindella.

I wanted to dive a little deeper into that character this year and looks at some the lineage she and Zee share.

We know very little about the witch named Sindella.  We know she is a member of the DC universe's Homo Magi race.  We know she can claim Atlantean Lord Arion as an ancestor (as can most of the Homo Magi).  In some continuities then this makes her a somewhat distant relative to Power Girl.  She even has some similar tastes in clothes.

We know that at some point she meets Giovanni "John" Zatara in Turkey and she returns to America with him.  A year later Zatanna is born.  She later fakes her own death so the other Homi Magic don't go looking for her or Zatanna.   This could also be an "in universe" explanation for why Zee's first name sounds so much like her last name.  Sindella didn't want her daughter found through the power of her name.

Sindella and Zatanna both have a "Medulla Jewel" in their brains.  This seems to be a focus of their magical power.  Sindella is shown using magic and not needing to speak it backwards, it is assumed that Zee can do the same. One thing is known that they can use it to communicate telepathically.  So I guess Zee would know if she were still alive.

The interesting notion here is that Sindella is an Atlantean, either by birth (she could be immortal like Arion; she doesn't look old enough to have a daughter that is 30+) or by birthright.  In game then she could (if still alive) be a walking treasure trove of occult knowledge.  Maybe even enough to rival Dr. Fate.

There is precious little out there on this character. We know next to nothing about her and Zatara meet, what she was doing prior to that and, well, basically everything else about her.

I am afraid that if we see here at all in JL Dark it will be as something to torture Zee.

Are We Done with Retro Clones?

Mind you this is not a rant.

But are we done with Retro Clones?
Not playing them, but making them.

I enjoy the hell out Labyrinth Lord and Basic Fantasy.  Spellcraft & Swordplay is still a fave and there are others I want to try out more like ACKS, LL-Advanced and who knows what else.

But there is such a thing as market saturation and soon (if we are not already there or past it) we will have more games than our small market will allow.

So do we really need anyone making more clones?
Do we really need Version X of someone's house rules?

I suppose the only important answer is "yes, as long as there are people willing to pay for them."

There is no Hell in the Blogosphere, part 2

Another has been taken.

"Angry Black Dragon Appears", http://ohsnapblackdragon.blogspot.com/
is now "Healthy Living".

Feel like I need to pour out a little bit of Mt. Dew in respectful remembrance.