[Fanzine Focus XXX] Lichcraft

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 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. Not every fanzine though, is dedicated to particular roleplaying games.

Lichcraft: An RPG About Trans Necromancers is an overtly political fanzine about a controversial or difficult or political subject (or all three)—depending upon your point of view. Published by Laurie O’Connel Games following a successful Kickstarter campaign as part of ZineQuest #3, it is a dystopian satire upon (fifty) years of Conservative Party rule and access to life changing healthcare in the United Kingdom. It is a commentary upon the Conservative Party and its attitude to both the National Health Service and anyone who does not fit its white middle class ideals. It is also a game for two players which can be run as a multiplayer game and is intended to be quite light-hearted despite the seriousness of its underlying theme. The year is 2069 and the Conservatives have been in power for fifty years, and partially realised its dream of dismantling the NHS with huge cuts and sell-offs to its wealthy backers and as a result, the waiting list to access healthcare for the transgendered community is currently three centuries. So what is a trans person supposed to do? Scream and protest knowing they will be dead before receiving the healthcare they actually need or…? In the case of Lichcraft, it is taking up the study of necromancy in order to become a lich, achieve immortality, and so outlive—or rather, undead the waiting list.

Character creation in Lichcraft is simple. All it requires is that the character is transgendered and on the waiting list. After that, the player is free to decide, or they can roll on the small set of tables to determine their gender, politics, day job, and source of magic. They also assign the numbers one, two, or three to three stats—Strength, Sense, and Spells. Lastly, the character has a Health of five, although this can be lower if there are more players.

My name is Bella

I am 29 years old

I have known that I was trans since I was six

I am Non-Binary

I am a Communist

My hobby is Reading

My day job is Accountant

The source of my magic is Force of Will

Strength 1 Sense 2 Spells 3

Lichcraft is designed to be flexible in that it can be played with one player and one Game Master, one Game Master and several players, or two players without a Game Master. In fact, Lichcraft could just as easily be played by one person and written up as a journaling game. Either way, the aim is for the player to assemble the elements that they need for the ritual. These include a magic spell, some rare and valuable components, and a magically powerful place. These are determined randomly by the Game Master. For example, “The spell is scrawled on the back of envelope, hidden in a cluttered café, and guarded by vampires”,  “The components are in moss gathered from standing stones, hidden in the Houses of Parliament, and guarded by zombie Liz Truss”, and “The location for the ritual is the top of a corporate skyscraper, the catch is the strange weather phenomenon, and the locals are dangerous because they are giants”. Each of these three elements represents a challenge that the would be lich has to overcome to succeed and is done in a single scene each, so that a play through of Lichcraft should be three scenes only.

Within each scene it is the Game Master’s tasks to present obstacles derived from the prompts and objectives already created. If the Player Character needs to overcome an obstacle, then their player rolls a number of dice equal to the appropriate stat. More can be added if the Player Character’s hobby, politics, or other background elements are relevant. If the highest result on any die is a six, the Player Character succeeds and their player narrates the outcome. If three, four, or five, the Player Character succeeds, but may lose a point of Health or the stat being rolled. Lastly, on a one or two, the Player Character fails and something goes wrong. They will also learn a harsh lesson which they can learn from and bring into play later on to gain another die.

There is combat system as such, but the Player Character can lose points of both stats and Health. When all Health is lost, the Player Character is dead. Losing points in a stat represents loss of confidence and a wearing down of the will to succeed, making the challenge of the game more difficult to overcome. Alternatively, a player can decide that their character will make a sacrifice to continue on, whether that is a relationship, career, as sense of independence, and so on, in order to restore two points of Health or a stat. Once the Player Character has gathered everything necessary to perform the ritual, the player has a choice of a final encounter as one last challenge or skipping straight to the ritual. In order to complete the ritual, the rules pose some questions for the player and their character which push them to reflect upon what they have done in order to complete the ritual and how they feel now. Most are chosen by the player, but the Game Master also selects one too.

Lichcraft expands upon the core of the game—which is supported with a nicely done example of play—with multiplayer rules, with alternative settings for the Victorian era, the far future, and Ancient Rome, as well as one parodying a very far future British Science Fiction roleplaying and wargaming setting.

Physically, Lichcraft is a nicely presented. The best artwork is actually inside the front and back covers, and the writing is engaging.

Lichcraft is not about the processes and steps needed to gain gender recognition and the healthcare necessary to support that or the trans experience as it is lived of dealing with the NHS as such, whether that is in the early twenty-first century of today, or the future of the fanzine. Rather it is about overcoming those hurdles and the wait involved—especially the wait involved—in what is as ridiculous a method possible. In doing so, it is making its point in as equally a ridiculous manner possible, but letting the player—who need not be transgendered, because after all, this is a roleplaying game—roleplay that experience out and what it costs in a way that they can understand and appreciate. Ultimately, Lichcraft: An RPG About Trans Necromancers gets its message of frustration and the enormous obstacles which have to be overcome across in one single, entertaining session.