[Fanzine Focus XXIX] Meanderings #2

On the tail of the Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed another DM and group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.

Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. Another choice is the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game.

Published in October, 2017, Meanderings Issue #2 is a fanzine for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game. Its theme is ‘Options’, ideas and rules and additions that the Judge can add to her game. With this in mind, the issue opens with a lengthy review of the then new Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic, Goodman Games’ spiritual successor to TSR, Inc.’s Gamma World, in ‘Review Corner’. The review is written with the idea that both Dungeon Crawl Classics and Mutant Crawl Classics should be combined, which is an ‘option’ that fanzine tends towards. However, the suggested advice on combing the two feels out of place in a review when an article dedicated to the subject would have been easier to read and more useful the Judge who wanted to do so. Consequently, it is not a particularly informative review.

The first of the action ‘Options’ in Meanderings #2 is ‘Off the Chart! Might Deeds Beyond the 7+ for Warriors & Dwarves’. This is a solution to problem of players always rolling high for their Dwarf and Warrior characters when it comes to their Mighty Deeds die, the results always topping out at seven and more, and so always feeling the same. What though if both Dwarf and Warrior could roll higher? The article increases the upper range the results from seven to fourteen plus and supports with expanded tables for blinding, disarming, pushback, and precision attacks, as well as rallying and defensive manoeuvres, and trips and throws. The result is to make both Classes more effective at higher Levels and more fun to play. A useful option and something which could easily appear in the Dungeon Crawl Classics Companion, were there such a thing.

‘Let the Dice do the Talking: A Narrative Skill System for the DCC RPG’ gives a way of introducing more narrative to the play of Dungeon Crawl Classics and its skills. Inspired by the author playing a game of Fantasy Flight Games’ Edge of the Empire, it has a player roll three dice any time that his character attempts a skill and have all three dice rolls count. The individual results range from ‘Misadventure’ (a roll of one), ‘Misstep’ (below Difficulty Check), ‘Success’ (above Difficulty Check), and ‘Coup’ (maximum result), but because three dice are being rolled, any roll could involve one, two, or three of these results and then the Judge has to interpret them narratively. This is not a simple matter of the Judge interpreting the result as a yes or no outcome. Instead, it requires the Judge to interpret a more granular outcome which can mix a ‘Misadventure’, a ‘Success’, and a ‘Coup’ in one or roll or a ‘Misstep’ and two ‘Success’ results, for example. Mechanically, it is a simple and quick means of gradating results in a less linear fashion, but in terms of implementation it requires both Judge and her players to adapt to interpreting the results in a non-binary fashion. Whilst it is narratively it is clearly intended to add some fun complications and outcomes to the game, it also adds complexity and slows down actual play, until both Judge and her players are more skilled with making the narrative calls on the dice results. Making this adjustment—and it very much is an adjustment—may be too big a step for some groups.

If the previous article was inspired by the author playing Edge of the Empire, ‘Tides of Battle – Momentum in RPGs’ is inspired by his playing 13th Age and both his appreciation and dislike of the Escalation Die. In 13th Age this sits on the table and clicks up from one round to the next in a battle, granting bonuses to attack and triggering powers and abilities for all combatants—both the Player Characters and the monsters. It is the latter that the author dislikes. His solution is have one side have momentum in a battle, not both. Situations such as being surprised, outnumbered, or suffering a fumble will lose a side momentum, whilst holding the high ground, flanking, and killing or injuring a leader, will gain it. In a battle, the Judge will need to track momentum for each group fighting with points held cancelling each out until only the one side has any points of momentum. Which then become the die modifier for attacks, actions, spellcasting, and so on. So instead of the momentum of the Escalation Die going up and up (though sometimes it can be adjusted or lowered), momentum can swing back and forth between the opponents, depending on the Player Characters’ actions and their dice rolls. It can also add tactical complexity as the players have their characters undertake particular actions, such as targeting the leader, to gain momentum. Again, this is a case of adding complexity to play and slowing down play as momentum is tracked, but for a group which likes tactical complexity, this is an option.

‘No Man’s Land’ gives a useful table of options to prevent Player Characters from exploring undeveloped sections of dungeon, which the Judge can roll on or choose from, whilst ‘Occupations of Bastion – Zero Level occupations for the City of Bastion’ further develops the author’s own campaign, previously seen in Meanderings #1. This a big table matching that found in the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game and can be used to generate Zero Level Player Characters for Character Funnels or low Level, ordinary NPCs in the Bastion setting. Some explanation is required since several of the occupations have ‘Grafts’ for their weapons or equipment. These are biological parts taken from the Warped, those affected by the long war between Sorcerer Kings whose magics and warp beasts to ravage the land around the city of Bastion. In comparison to Zero Level Player Characters from Dungeon Crawl Classics, these grafts provide a relatively high bonus to attacks, damage, or skill checks. However, the full explanation of what grafts are and how they work is saved for Meanderings #3, the next issue which includes The Graft as a Class.

The actual Class presented in Meanderings #2 is ‘Classes of Bastion – The Bulwark against the Tides of the Waste’. The Entombed are former Zero Level characters who died in the defence of the city and then reborn in thick, cold iron shells and animated. The result is Golem-like, slow and strong, wielding heavy weapons, and so whilst it rolls higher dice for damage, it rolls lower dice for Initiative. It can also enter Rage to gain a bump up the dice chain, but similarly so do its opponents, because it is easier to hit. The rune armour of the Entombed is akin to plate and impedes magic cast on it. The Entombed requires a nutritious elixir daily, its organs and brains stored in phylacteries within its body. Notably, the Entombed uses the ‘Robots & Artificial Lifeforms’ table from Mutant Crawl Classics when rolling critical hits. Overall, The Entombed is a serviceable Class for when a player wants something big, slow, but heavy hitting.

Lastly, ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics Weapon Styles – Weapons Tables for Two-Weapon Styles’ is influenced by the author’s experiences with Legend of the Five Rings and 7th Sea and their weapon styles. Designed for use with single attacks rather than two-weapon attacks, these give options for styles such as sword and shield, Florentine, Twin Handaxe, and Twin Dagger. Inspired by Steel and Fury, the tables include Deed fumbles and criticals too. Much like the earlier ‘Off the Chart! Might Deeds Beyond the 7+ for Warriors & Dwarves’, this adds options with much in the way of complexity and given the various weapon styles, some flavour too, as well as making both Player Characters and NPCs stand out a bit more in their use of these styles.

Physically, Meanderings Issue #2 is decently done. It is clean and tidy and the artwork good. It does need a light edit in places. The issue has a pleasing sturdiness due to the ‘Zeroes to Heroes – Paper minis for Zero Levels’ which presents seventeen or so paper minis on light card. Designed for use with the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, these are rather fun. They include The Entombed from the issue, but the best one of course, is the chicken.

Meanderings Issue #2 is a mixture of the author’s experiences gaming ideas and game setting, with definitely more of the former than the latter. The problem is that if a Judge and her players find the ‘Options’ in the issue to be a case of being too much too ‘Out of the Box’, let alone their added complexity, it does not leave much of interest in the issue. This is not to say that they are not interesting, but rather they are not for everyone. The continued coverage of Bastion is welcome, but it does leave the reader waiting for more background and support for the setting, let alone a scenario. Given the inclusion of Zero Level characters in the issue, a Character Funnel would have been a fitting addition. The result serviceable at best because Meanderings Issue #2 is outweighed by its options when a better balance could have included more that the Judge could use without radical change.