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 be 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. As new fanzines have appeared, there has been an interest in the fanzines of the past, and as that interest has grown, they have become highly collectible, and consequently more difficult to obtain and write about. However, in writing about them, the reader should be aware that these fanzines were written and published between thirty and forty years ago, typically by roleplayers in their teens and twenties. What this means is that sometimes the language and terminology used reflects this and though the language and terminology is not socially acceptable today, that use should not be held against the authors and publishers unduly.
The Beholder was a British fanzine first published in April, 1979. Dedicated to Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, it ran to twenty-seven issues, the last being published in July, 1981. It was popular and would be awarded ‘Best Games Fanzine’ at the Games Day convention in 1980. After the final issue of The Beholder, the editors would go on to release a number of anthologies which collected content from the complete run of the fanzine such as Beholder Supplement Glossary of Magic, which collected many of the magical items which appeared in the fanzine and collated them into a series of tables for easy use by the Dungeon Master, and Fantasie Scenarios – The Fanzine Supplement No. 2, the first of several scenario anthologies.
The Beholder Issue 3 was probably published in June 1979, given that the fanzine was published monthly and on a regular basis throughout its run. Its contents do not follow the pattern as set by The Beholder Issue 1 and followed by The Beholder Issue 2. So although the issue does include new monsters and a scenario, but no new monsters, spells, or magical items, and even then, the scenario is different. Rather than the competition scenario of the first two issues, it consists of the fantasy equivalent of the ‘country house’ mystery, and this makes it much, much more easier for the Dungeon Master to add or adapt to her own campaign. Further, unlike The Beholder Issue 2, the issue solely focuses on Dungeons & Dragons and so there is no content for use the then leading Science Fiction roleplaying game, Traveller.
The issue opens with ‘Magic System’, which offers up an alternative to one of the ‘bugbears’ of Dungeons & Dragons—its magic system. Infamously Vancian, spells are learned, memorised, cast, and in the process, forgotten, or in the case of a Cleric or Druid, prayed for, memorised, cast, and in the process, forgotten. What ‘Magic System’ suggests as an alternative is a point buy/memorisation system. No matter whether the Player Character is a Cleric, Druid, Magic-User, or Illusionist, or even a Paladin or Ranger, there is a limit to how many spells he can hold in his head. This is Spell Capacity, determined by the point value of spell and the total spell capacity of the Player Character, which will vary according to each Class based on the primary attribute of the Class and the Player Character’s Level. Then each spell is given a point value. When a spell is cast, it reduces the Player Character’s Spell Capacity. For example, a Magic-User’s Spell capacity is half his Intelligence multiplied by his Level, a third Level Magic-user with an Intelligence of sixteen, will have a spell capacity of twenty-four. Magic Missile has a Spell value of three, which reduces the Magic-User’s Spell Capacity to twenty-one when he casts it. Spell Values are given for all of the spells accessible to each spell-casting Class.
So far, so good, but there are a couple of interesting wrinkles. When a Druid or Cleric prays for his spells, there is a very small chance of them not being granted, but this chance drops by extra time spent praying, and they can even pray to receive spells that would exceed his spell capacity. However, there is a chance that this will annoy the gods and they will excommunicate the Druid or Cleric! If this happens too many times, the Druid or Cleric has his soul destroyed and he is dead! For the Magic-user and the Illusionist, there is the chance that any spell cast will fail and a smaller chance of any spell that is failed to be cast will backfire! The likelihood of a spell casting failure and spell backfire increases if the Magic-user or the Illusionist casts spells that would reduce his Spell capacity below zero.
Overall, the ‘Magic System’ appears to be a serviceable alternative, likely as good as or better than any that would have been offered in the fanzines of the period, given that such publications served as platforms for alternatives to published rules for a roleplaying game such as Dungeons & Dragons. Of course, they are more complex though than the Vancian magic system in standard Dungeons & Dragons.
‘Monster summoning’ details some seven new monsters. From Huw Williams, there is the Kelpie, a small, extremely evil water spirit that looks like a nixie, but can transform into a horse, and from John Stoner—brother of co-editor, Michael G. Stoner—the Helfic, a giant spider-like creature with ten legs instead of eight and large, crushing mandibles. These inflict an increasing amount of damage, the longer a victim is held in them, and they infect the victim with haemophilia, which means that suffering damage can be fatal due to bleeding—internally or externally! Michael G. Stoner gives write-ups of five new monsters. They include Helz, disembodied skeletal hands that snatch equipment and run (float?) away; the Yeti Naga, a variant of the Naga which lives in cold, snowy climates and can cast the Ice Storm daily, plus other spells that are not fire related; and the Swordfish, an aerial version of the fish, which likes to skewer its victims with its sword. The other two monsters are Chess-related and both are created by high-Level Magic-Users and both are either ‘black’ or Lawful Evil’, or ‘white’ or ‘Lawful Good’. The Rook is a miniature castle tower which charges its opponents to knock them down. This means it ignores the Armour Cass bonus of any armour worn. The Knight can attack with his sword, whilst his horse can bite. It is also very fast and can leap into combat and strike first or it can leap out of combat first and gallop away!
The monsters themselves are okay. Nothing spectacular. What is interesting is that the article gives the values for ‘The Monstermark System’ by Don Turnbull which appeared in the pages of the first three issues of White Dwarf and was subsequently reprinted in The Best of White Dwarf Articles in 1980. It amends the article with the following comment: “Incidentally, talking of MonsterMark, do you realise the trouble that AD&D (Advanced Dungeons and Dragons) is going to cause? Not only are there now many new _monsters that need “marking” but many of the old ones have been changed, making their monstermarks wrong! Also the Ref’s guide uses a new set of attacking tables and, if you use them, monstermark will be even more Inaccurate! If Ian Livingstone and the lads at GW are listening: Why not give Don Turnbull a few pages of a White Dwarf to fill with AD&D monstermarks?”
‘The Villa of Menopolis’ is the scenario in The Beholder Issue 3. Unlike in the first two issue, due to popular demand, it is not competition dungeon. Instead, it is a mini-scenario for low Level characters, but one that needs an experienced Game Master. Oddly, it suggests that it be played with two First Level, two Second Level, and two Third Level Player Characters rather than they all be of the same Level. The villa is associated with a legend that says that its keepers live alongside a mythical race known as the Gremlodwarves, short creatures with long green hair and beards and said to be seen abroad on moonlit nights. This does not stop the villa and its keepers from accepting paying guests, it might even encourage them due to the notoriety, but the Player Characters are hired to stay at the villa and “…[D]estroy the heirarchy [sic] of the Villa of Menopolis from serf to lord.” This is actually at odd with the point of the scenario. What it suggests is that the Player Characters are to go the Villa of Menopolis and put everyone to the sword. This is not the case.
The Player Characters are hired by a man named ‘Socrates’ who stayed at the villa a few years earlier with his brother and saw his brother being dragged away the Gremlodwarves. He wants his brother found and the Gremlodwarves put the sword rather than everyone from serf to lord. So instead of a ‘country house dungeon’, the scenario is more akin to a ‘country house murder mystery’ and there being a trail of clues which the Player Characters can follow to have it lead them to the dungeons of the Gremlodwarves below the villa. Some of the villa staff are aware of the creatures’ activities, whilst others have their own agendas, so there is a little more to investigate at the villa than the Gremlodwarves, though not much. Further, the clue path to follow is linear, but ideally the Dungeon Master should be able to adjust as necessary to keep the players and their characters interested and involved.
The Gremlodwarves are a cross between Gremlins and dwarves, so they are silly. Otherwise, the scenario provides lots of decent NPCs for the Dungeon Master to roleplay, a good map of the villa, and serviceable descriptions of its various locations. Names and so on are kept purposefully odd to encourage the Dungeon Master to replace them with her own. ‘The Villa of Menopolis’ is far from being a bad scenario, but it is a huge improvement over the competition dungeons of the first two issues, encouraging roleplaying and investigation before the exploration and the butchery! The truth is, The Beholder would go on to publish many well received scenarios—as evidenced by Fantasie Scenarios – The Fanzine Supplement No. 2—but ‘The Villa of Menopolis’ is a reasonable sign of things to come.
‘Viewpoint: D&D Languages and the Trickster’ by John Norris is a response to both the Trickster Character Class and its ability to have a command of languages and the way languages are handled in Dungeons & Dragons in general. With its one Common tongue spoken by all and all the same, its alignment languages that never vary, and everyone and anyone having their own language, Norris simply does not find the treatment of languages to be credible in Dungeons & Dragons or the Class. His solution is to create a family of languages and have dialects play a role too, so that, for example, an archaic version of language might serve as a language for diplomacy and the educated, whilst others might be used as secret guild or temple languages. He suggests restricting the number of languages known by most NPCs and Player Characters, primarily due to geography, age, and intelligence. As to the Trickster Class, he turns them into a combination of Thief, translator, and animal trainer. The treatment of the Trickster is rather brief in comparison to the general treatment of languages, which will have a limiting effect on communication and travel if implemented, but it could be used to enhance world-building.
Lastly, ‘Definitions Of Non-Magical Treasure: Gems’ builds on the inclusion of material components for various spells in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition, to provide a means of creating the type and value of first gems, and then jewellery. This is before the release of the Dungeon Master’s Guide, so it would have been quickly superseded, but until then it would have been useful enough.
Physically, The Beholder, Issue 3 is slightly untidy in places, but readable. The layout is tight and that does make it difficult to read in places. The illustrations and the cartography is not actually that bad. Of course, every issue of the fanzine was published when personal publishing was still analogue and the possibilities of the personal computer and personal desktop publishing were yet to come. In the case of The Beholder that would never be taken advantage of.
The Beholder has a high reputation for content that is of good quality and playable. The Beholder, Issue 3 does not yet match that reputation, but there are signs there of what is to come. The inclusion of a non-competition dungeon with a scenario that places an emphasis on interaction and investigation, points the direction in which future issues will go, and whilst its alternative spell casting rules are typical of the time when the issue was published, they could be used today. With The Beholder, Issue 3, the fanzine begins to show promise.
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