[Fanzine Focus XLI] The Hobonomicon #2

On the tail of 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 Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game.

The Hobonomicon #2 was published for GenCon 2022 and differs differs greatly from its previous issues. It still heavily features the artwork of Doug Kovacs—and others, but there is much less gaming content in its pages. The first two issues focuses upon the flight and survival of refugees from the planet of Punjar, in the very far future of the fabled city of Punjar, setting for many of Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics line of scenarios, particularly those for Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition. The Hobonomicon #0 presented ‘Escape from Planet Punjar’, a classic Character Funnel, in which Zero Level characters going out on their first adventure to hopefully survive and return as First Level adventurers. What happens after the surviving Player Characters escape the lightless, lawless bowels of the ecumenopolis that is Planet Punjar is explored in The Hobonomicon #1.

The Hobonomicon #2 does not explore what happens next and is not a continuation of either ‘Escape from Planet Punjar’ or ‘Meat Planet’ from The Hobonomicon #1. What it does continue is the previous issues’ comic strips. ‘Dreams of a Klartesh Fiend’ continues the drug induced nightmares written by James MacGeorge and drawn by Stefan Poag, whilst Doug Kovacs’ ‘Death of a Reaver’ continues the telling of the backstory of one of the members of ‘The Band’, the cast of adventurers who have appeared in the artwork for the Dungeon Crawl Classics line. Here the hero, having dealt with the bandits in her way in the previous episode and now with a captured prisoner, Ratface, attempts to find out why she was attacked. It is an engaging story whose only problem is that there is a long wait between issues. Both are followed by ‘Never Trust a Wizard’ by Stefan Poag, which is actually longer than both together! It tells the tale of a young woman who is driven to kill a sorcerer and take his head back to a wizard because he is holding her partner hostage. This is a tale of revenge and bloody violence as you would expect within the Dungeon Crawl Classics milieu. It is very well done, and a fun read. Together, the three comic strips take up half of the issue.

The actual gaming content in the issue begins with ‘Verses of Natraz’ which together with ‘The Missing Mercurial Magic’ extends the range of spells in The Hobonomicon itself. For example, Burning Glyphs causes glyphs in green living fire to appear above the target’s head and lights up the area and makes him easy to spot, whilst Bat Country summons a screeching swarm of neon psychedelic bats that cause those caught up in their flight to flee unless they make a Saving Throw versus Will. ‘Verses of Natraz’ includes a fantastic piece of artwork by Jeff Easley. Further spells are fully detailed Dungeon Crawl Classics fashion. These include Corporeal Engloblement which changes a wizard’s body into a sphere for various effects such as a one-ton rock, causing a sonic boom as it expands and suddenly contracts, and so on; Gnormby’s Plasmatic Force Phlanges creates a force hand; and Immolation shrouds the caster in protective magical flames. Other spells include Shadow Poppet, Thraxil’s Gift, Path of the Worm, and Name of the Beast.

‘Return to Magic Mystery’ lists twelve alternatives to giving NPCs and monsters the same spells that Player Characters have access. For example, a bolt of burning or freezing irritation that is so itchy, it reduces the target’s Armour Class, whilst ‘Empathic Shackles’ forces a target’s rolls to be in alignment with another character, meaning that the target’s player cannot roll higher than the other character. Thes effects are all fun and inventively different, so should surprise the players and their characters. Lastly, ‘1D12 Beastmen’ gives three sets of stats for the ‘Feral Beastman’, the ‘Savage Beastman’, and the ‘Towering Beastman Monstrosity’, but backs them up with twelve fantastic illustrations of different beastmen. All the Judge has to do is roll the die, determine what the beastman looks like and attach some stats. It is very basic, but the artwork adds flavour aplenty.

Bar the cover—which is done in colour, front and back, inside and out—as with previous issues, The Hobonomicon #2 is heavily illustrated in black and white throughout. The artwork is excellent, ranging from grim to gruesome, from daft to disturbing, but it all fits.

The Hobonomicon #2 is a fanzine of two halves, one with the gaming content, one without. Both are good in their own way, the new spells and magical effects are nicely inventive, but there is nothing here that a Judge and her gaming group has to have. It is good, but not good enough, and it does not help that the gaming content is essentially all spells and nothing else. Before that, the comic strips are enjoyable, but again no more. Ultimately, The Hobonomicon #2 is an issue of the fanzine that is for the collectors and the fans of Dungeon Crawl Classics rather than an must have issue.