[Fanzine Focus XLIII] Black Dogs Issue II

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 how another Dungeon Master 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 in the past, although as tastes change, this is no longer the case.

Black Dogs Issue II was published in February, 20218 by Daimon Games. Following on from Black Dogs Issue I, it describes itself as, “[A] dark fantasy collection of house-rules, materials, adventures, monsters, and together a toolbox to generate new content for OSR systems, and mostly for the Lamentations of the Flame Princess.” Its emphasis is on a dark, grim, medieval setting for monster hunters and mercenaries rather than horror. The setting is a fantasy version of Europe, mountainous and heavily wooded, cut through with lengthy rivers navigable by barge as well as the remains of an ancient imperial road network. It lays these details out in ‘Presenting the world’, describing in turn the lands, the woods, towns, customs and religion, and church and nobility. Most of the population adhere to Christian morals and attend nearby churches regularly. The setting described will be familiar to most, though without any specifics, so accessible in terms of feel and tone. Power is held by the nobility and the church, though the merchant class is growing in power and influence as it becomes richer whilst grip on power held by the nobility declines. Into the world step the ‘Black Dogs’ of the title. In ‘Why Black Dogs’, the author explains that they are outsiders driven by their conscience to act according to a code of conduct under which they fight demons, monsters, and particularly evil men, and in doing so protect the innocent—especially children, working commoners, and humanity in general. This gives a sense of who and what the ‘Black Dogs’ of the fanzine’s title are and presents a grim world that is nevertheless more positive than traditional Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay. Both articles have nice pointers in the margins as quick reminders for the Game Master.

‘Encumbrance and Gear’ presents rules for things that the Player Characters can buy and how they can carry them. The Encumbrance is a straightforward ‘inventory slot’ system with a  Player Character able to carry a number of items equal to the modifiers for his Strength and Constitution. Most items take a single, but heavy items can take two. The cost of items is in Silver Pieces and most weapons take up one or two slots. Weaponry has a pike and shot feel. There are not a huge number of weapons, but enough, and they include blackpowder pistols, arquebuses, and muskets. They misfire if a one is rolled on the damage die, the target’s Armour Class is reduced by one, and any musket or black powder weapon-wielder must a Saving Throw versus Dexterity, or the gunpowder horn they are carrying might explode. The other missile weapons do have the advantage of allowing wielders to take one or more shots at anyone charging them. Armour also takes up slots in a Player Character’s Inventory and differentiates between small and large shields. Overall, these are serviceable rules.

Content for the Game Master begins with ‘Rolling Dice’. It advises that the player only roll the dice when it creates positive tension, there is risk or a time pressure or conflict, and so on. The Game Master is advised to make failures interesting, describing them as something more than a miss’, suggesting that a failure becomes a ‘fail-forward’ to make the otherwise failed outcome a success with a complication, twisted outcome, or at a greater cost. It is supported by plenty of examples. ‘Campaign Spirit’ makes clear that Black Dogs is about a game of exploration, rather than saving the world or just looting treasure. The Player Characters grow through their experience of the world, rather than through other means. This is a presentation of the author’s play philosophy, primarily building it around open areas marked with situations whose exploration is player-led. Above all, the Game Master is advised to keep an open mind and to respond to the players and their characters. The advice is decent enough, but not really developed in the article.

‘Adventure Seeds’ presents some ideas generated from tables annoyingly to be found in Black Dogs Issue III. Nevertheless, the author shows how he develops the results into something from which a Game Master can improvise. In one, ‘An Old Lover’, it sets up a town which has been beset by turmoil due to a feud between the local church and Bishop and a Witch, whilst in another, ‘The Black Market’, a village whose interbreeding families have tipped it into degradation and is now filled by addicts, drunks, beggars, and vagabonds, which by night it sells their organs at a market attended by alchemists and wizards, scholars and medics, necromancers and witches. ‘Witches and Smart Zombies’ detail the primary NPCs involved in both, in particular the new monster, the ‘Smart Zombie’. Unlike traditional zombie, the ‘Smart Zombie’ is still undead, but intelligent. It is vulnerable to sunlight and needs to eat flesh regularly. Unfortunately, the antagonists for both adventure seeds are better set up and explained than the overall situations for the adventure seeds. The Game Master will likely want to develop these further if she can.

Physically, Black Dogs Issue II is clean, tidy, and well laid out. The writing is good and is an enjoyable read. The fanzine is lightly illustrated, but the artwork is decent enough, being drawn from the public domain.

Black Dogs Issue II is a fanzine of ideas and suggestions, though none of them radical, and all of them pointing towards a roleplaying game that the author wants to write—or if that is not the case, it certainly feels like it. ‘Encumbrance and Gear’ is workable and likely the most useful thing in the issue, whilst the ‘Adventure Seeds’ are disappointingly underwritten in comparison to the scenario of the previous. Both have potential, but need development upon the part of the Game Master. Truth be told, Black Dogs Issue II feels outdated, even by the standards of the Old School Renaissance.