Friday Fantasy: Brought to Light

Brought to Light enables you to visit the great city of Eversink not once, but four times. The city stands at the mouth of the Serpentine River where it flows into Bay of Coins, cut through by canals crossed over by numerous bridges from one plaza to another, filled with flotillas of boats and gondolas, spoiled by outpourings of human and other waste waiting to be flushed out to sea, all to the sound of merchants, high and low, hawking their wares, and the chants of the priests. This as its cellars and basements continue to sink into the mire, despite the best efforts of the engineers of The Guild of Architects and Canal-Watchers. Eversink is a city of feuds and rivalries and secrets, some secrets hidden in the rooms of buildings swallowed by the swamp upon which the city stands and a city of laws and traditions so complex and convoluted that no city official can expect to remember them all. The only crime that agreed upon and widely known is that of Sorcery, for hand-in-hand with Sorcery comes Corruption, and if a Sorcerer chooses not to internalise it, he must instead externalise it and that spiritually scars the surrounding terrain and brings the attention of the Inquisitors for it scars the blessings of the city’s patron goddess, Denari—and that may be Eversink’s ultimate secret. This is the setting for Swords of the Serpentine, the swords and sorcery roleplaying game of daring heroism, sly politics, daring thievery, incriminating secrets, feuding houses of the nobility, rampant corruption, and bloody savagery, set in a fantasy city full of skulduggery and death, that uses the GUMSHOE System and is published by Pelgrane Press.

It is also the setting for Brought to Light, an anthology of one-shot scenarios for Swords of the Serpentine. All four were originally run as demonstration scenarios at Gen Con and all four run the gamut of the roleplaying game’s tiers of play, from Fledgling to Sovereign. Which means that they showcase a range of Player Character types, campaign set-ups, and power levels in the setting of Eversink. Each scenario is structured the same way. This includes its adventure premise, setting, tone and hints for running the game—including inspirations, plot summary with a plot map, a breakdown of both the primary adversaries and the heroes, and how to start the scenario. This is followed by map of the scenario’s various scenes and the scenes themselves, the scenes further broken down skill by skill and how they apply and what the Player Characters will learn and lastly six pre-generated Player Characters specific to the scenario. Each scenario also includes a handout.

The anthology opens with ‘Ragamuffins’. Written for the Fledgling tier, it casts the Player Characters as urchins surviving as best they can on the streets of Eversink. Opening in exciting fashion with a rooftop chase, the Urchins find their home in Sag Harbour, the worst district in the city, has been robbed! This includes a precious MacGuffin that makes them feel safe in their hovel. The culprits are their regular bullies and the Urchins have to track down both and what the pair has done with the item, which ultimately leads to a horrible conspiracy underground. ‘Ragamuffins’ mixes grime and children’s own adventure in engaging fashion.

‘Murder Most Foul!’ takes the classic country murder mystery and gives it an Eversink twist, making it a locked-room—or rather locked-mansion—mystery. Master Pietro Contrari is the most famous and most successful freelance detective in the history of Eversink, having solved over nine hundred murders in thirty-five year career! He is holding a sixtieth birthday party at his mansion and the Player Characters’ patrons want to know the secret of Contrari’s success and so have got them invitations. The Player Characters are, of course, no slouches when it comes to investigations, and of course, there will be murder. Which sounds like a fantasy version of 1976’s Murder by Death. So, there is a ball at which everyone can circulate, a murder that Master Pietro Contrari is bound to solve, and a whole mansion to explore and investigate. This is a mansion crawl in which three investigations are running in parallel—one that of Contrari into the death, the second of the Player Characters into the death, and the third of the Player Characters into Contrari himself—with the first being separate from each. The scenario even ends with a, “But tell me inspector, what I don’t understand is…” scene in which the Player Characters get to turn it back on the master detective. This is an entertaining pastiche of all the genre clichés.

‘Smuggler’s End’ is another classic murder mystery style investigation, but here the Player Characters are members of the City Watch instructed by a very rare letter from the Triskadane, the city’s highly secret, anonymous rulers, to solve the death. The body is that of nobleman with a rakish and criminally connected reputation, now dressed in rags and seemly dumped on the streets of Sag Harbour with a knife in his back. How did the victim get there and who killed him? Add into the mix a sister whose haughty manner is going to make the players hate her, let alone their characters, who wants the body back for burial and will get it back in two days, and what you have is classic police style procedural in which justice crashes into city politics.

Politics rears its ugly head again in the fourth and final scenario in the anthology. ‘Takedown’ switches the Tier up to Sovereign and has the Player Characters take command of their greater resources rather than go toe-to-toe in direct combat—whether that is physical, verbal, or sorcerous—as they are constantly harried and harassed by their enemies. Again, the Player Characters are instructed by Triskadane, the city’s highly secret, anonymous rulers, to investigate and act against Judge Lorenzo Spina, Lord High Magistrate of Eversink—one of the most power, visible figures in the city. As creepily conveyed by a child, the Triskadane has foreseen that he poses a severe threat to the city. The scenario does not have a structure so much as it considers what actions the Player Characters might take and how their various Investigative and General abilities can be applied to the investigation, what they will learn in the process, and how Spina is likely to retaliate once he becomes aware of their activities. So, bar the initial one, there are no other scenes and the investigation and play process will be much more open. Tonally, ‘Takedown’ is much darker than the other scenarios and it probably the one on its own which could be expanded from a direct four hour affair into a mini-campaign. It is effectively a freeform played at the table and so requires greater input by the Game Master.

Physically, Brought to Light is very well laid out, nicely illustrated, and the individual organisation of the scenarios eases the Game Master’s job. However, as much as their portraits impart a feel for the pre-generated Player Characters, none of them have any ready background that is accessible to the players. Each does have some background—it is given in the breakdown of the heroes at the start of each scenario. So, whilst useful for the Game Master, she has to find a way to impart that to the players of these characters. Another issue is the lack of maps. All of the scenarios are to be run theatre of the mind, but in some cases, such as the mansion in ‘Murder Most Foul!’, map could have been useful given its location-based play.

The problem with Brought to Light is that not that it is a collection of bad scenarios; quite the contrary. These are all good, entertaining scenarios. Rather that it consists of one-shots, convention scenarios, and whilst they can used as the basis or starting points for ongoing campaigns, they are not easy to add to a campaign. Which ultimately means that Brought to Light is not as flexible as a more general anthology of scenarios might be. Nevertheless, Brought to Light is a good showcase for Swords of the Serpentine, capturing not just some of its possible set-ups, but also the feel and flavour of Eversink, its grottiness and grandeur, corruption and capriciousness, power and pettiness, and more.

Magazine Madness 47: Senet Issue 19

The gaming magazine is dead. After all, when was the last time that you were able to purchase a gaming magazine at your nearest newsagent? Games Workshop’s White Dwarf is of course the exception, but it has been over a decade since Dragon appeared in print. However, in more recent times, the hobby has found other means to bring the magazine format to the market. Digitally, of course, but publishers have also created their own in-house titles and sold them direct or through distribution. Another vehicle has been Kickststarter.com, which has allowed amateurs to write, create, fund, and publish titles of their own, much like the fanzines of Kickstarter’s ZineQuest. The resulting titles are not fanzines though, being longer, tackling broader subject matters, and more professional in terms of their layout and design.

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Senet is a print magazine about the craft, creativity, and community of board gaming. Bearing the tagline of “Board games are beautiful”, it is about the play and the experience of board games, it is about the creative thoughts and processes which go into each and every board game, and it is about board games as both artistry and art form. Published by Senet Magazine Limited, each issue promises previews of forthcoming, interesting titles, features which explore how and why we play, interviews with those involved in the process of creating a game, and reviews of the latest and most interesting releases. Senet is also one of the very few magazines about games to actually be available for sale on the high street.

Having reached its fifth anniversary with Senet Issue 18, Senet Issue 19 goes one better by being bigger. It increases in length by a fifth from seventy-two pages to eighty-eight. Which means more previews and reviews, plus new articles, all along the usual mix of interviews, examinations of themes and mechanisms, and looks at game design and game culture. Consequently, it feels a little thicker and sturdier in the hands and provides a wider look at the hobby. Published in the summer of 2025, much of Senet Issue 19 adheres to its tried and tested format. Thus it opens with ‘Behold’, highlighting some of the then forthcoming games with a preview and a hint or two of what to expect. The most intriguing of the titles previewed here include Spokes, a game about bicycle racing in a velodrome that involves placing vibrantly coloured literal spokes of bicycles; Night Soil, about the nightly collection and disposal of ordure in Tudor London; and Habemus Papam, a timely title in which the players are electors of the Roman Curia, directed to elect a new Pope, but which they themselves are not candidates for the papal throne.

The first of the new additions in Senet Issue 19 is ‘Across the Board’. This will be ongoing series in which the magazine talks to the hobby’s ‘movers and dice-shakers’. For the inaugural article, Ruth Haigh of The Treehouse Board Game Café in Sheffield is interviewed. Given the rise of the board game café in the past decade, it seems wholly appropriate that the magazine actually talk to someone who runs one to find out why and what life is like running one in comparison to a café without board games. It is an engaging interview and it will be interesting to see who the magazine talks to in future issues. However, it does return to the tried and tested with designer Tristian Hall’s ‘For Love of the Game’. This time, it is the ‘Designer’s day off’, and here he stretches an earlier comment of his that inspiration can come from anywhere into a whole column by telling you exactly where. Essentially, a guide to what the designer does when not working on board games that ends with the question, “So, what will you discover on your next designer’s day off?”, to which the answer is, “Hopefully not another waste of time and effort like this” as the long running column reaches its nadir. The only plus to this entry in the magazine is that it shows how very good the rest of the issue, especially with the expanded page count, actually is. Sadly, whilst the extra page count does what it can to obscure ‘For Love of the Game’, it has not be used to expand ‘Points’, the regular letter column in the magazine. The letters here wonder how game modifications come about—as seen through the eyes of children, raise an issue with the use of the word ‘shame’ in the title of magazine’s end column, ‘Shelf of Shame’, and suggests some books about board games to read. It is a pity that there are not more letters because there are some interesting ideas raised here, certainly worth discussing, and the latter about books about board games certainly highlights an area that the magazine is not covering.

Every issue consists of two interviews, one with an artist and one with a designer, plus an article about a theme in games and an article about a mechanic in games, and of course, Senet Issue 19 is no exception. In ‘The Explorer’, Dan Jolin interviews the designer of his favourite game, Scythe, and publisher of the highly popular Wingspan, Jamey Stegmaier. The title of the interview is reference to his then latest design, Vantage, the open-world board game inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It takes him from his first steps into gaming from Catan to Agricola and beyond. In particular, the interview highlights the quality of the components in Stegmaier games and how some of the design changes came about when working with Jakub Rozalksi whose artwork inspired the look at design of Scythe. It is a good interview, as is Alexandra Sonechkina’s one with Sandara Tang. In ‘A Cute Above’, the reader gets to enjoy her ‘cosy-cute’ fantasy artwork as seen in Flamecraft, Critter Kitchen, and Tea Witches. The artwork is genuinely that and will be enjoyed by anyone who also likes dragons. Sandara guides through some of her pieces that have a wonderful storybook quality to them.

In ‘The Explorer’, Dan Jolin interviews the designer of his favourite game, Scythe, and publisher of the highly popular Wingspan, Jamey Stegmaier. The title of the interview is reference to his then latest design, Vantage, the open-world board game inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It takes him from his first steps into gaming from Catan to Agricola and beyond. In particular, the interview highlights the quality of the components in Stegmaier and how some of the design changes came about when working with Jakub Rozalksi whose artwork inspired the look at design of Scythe. It is a good interview, as is Alexandra Sonechkina’s one with Sandara Tang. In ‘A Cute Above’, the reader gets to enjoy her ‘cosy-cute’ fantasy artwork as seen in Flamecraft, Critter Kitchen, and Tea Witches. The artwork is genuinely that and will be enjoyed by anyone who also likes dragons. Sandara guides through some of her pieces that have a wonderful storybook quality to them.

‘Risky Business’ by Dan Thurot explores the ‘push-your-luck’ mechanism in board games, as typified by the recent Flip 7. The mechanism—and the article looks at several of them, including dice rolling, card-flipping, tile-laying, tower-stacking (a la Jenga), and even pig-throwing (a la Pass the Pigs)—has a problem in its association with gambling, but the honestly, there plenty of games that use this mechanism that are not Blackjack or Poker. All these games do combine the thrill of taking a chance which can be sweetened or soured by the result. Balanced against this the need to ascertain which result is more likely. From the simplicity of a game like Flip 7 the article looks at surprisingly more complex games like Quacks of Quedlinburg or in the Psychedelic wargame, Wonderland’s War. What is made clear throughout by talking to designers is that these games need balancing and adjustment to get right as well as the fact that there is more to them than most people think.

The theme in the issue is travel and holidays as Tim Clare puts us in ‘Holiday Mode’. The theme goes all the way back to the seventeenth century and continues to be popular today, with designs such as Globetrotting and Let’s Go! To Japan. Underlying many designs with this theme, is the wish fulfilment of visiting faraway places, that is, going on holiday to places you want to go to, but cannot. In other cases, like Tokaido—inspired by Utagawa Hiroshige’s The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido series—it is the journey that matters, not the speed with which it completed. The article balances these great journeys with five pocket-sized games that are both holiday themed and could be taken on holiday.

The other major addition to Senet Issue 19 is ‘The Classic’ which looks at a classic board game in the hobby’s hall of fame each issue. For the first entry in the series, the board game in question is, of course, Catan. It opens with the sad news that many consider the game to be past its sell by date, too old, a cliché even… Matt Thrower’s assessment does not shy away from comments made by its detractors and by the perceived wisdom, but puts up a sturdy defence of the game, pointing out its achievements over the last thirty years—millions of copies sold in forty languages, awards won including the Spiel des Jahres, and above all, popularising the hobby. It will be interesting to see what titles will be considered classics in future issues.

Senet’s reviews section, ‘Unboxed’ includes a look at The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game, highly regarded for the strong inclusion of its theme, whilst Power Vacuum, a game of household appliances living in a dictatorship, which is also a trick-taking game is also praised. The Senet’s Top Choice for the issue is Finspan, a piscine reimaging of the popular Wingspan. Unfortunately, Paranoia: The Uncooperative Board Game appears to suffer too much from being like the roleplaying game it is based upon, so it is best enjoyed fans of the roleplaying game. The selection is not quite as wide as in previous issues, the titles being reviewed all being hobby games than family or party games. However, there are more of them in keeping with the increased page count.

As per usual, the last two columns in Senet Issue 19 are ‘How to Play’ and ‘Shelf of Shame’. ‘From bored to board: falling for game night’ by John DeQuadros which traces his path from scepticism about board games to acceptance and finally proponent of the hobby as space for socialising. It is a rather engaging piece that highlights the participation rather than the winning—and sometimes the play itself. Lastly, the streamer and content creator, Beneeta Kaur pulls a game from her ‘Shelf of Shame’. The title is Firenze, bought in 2019 and ignored until now. She discovers a game that she thoroughly enjoys and regrets having ignored it until now, all due to the dangers of being distracted.

Physically, Senet Issue 19 is as good as you expect. It is well written and a pleasing read. The issue is also good in itself, the increased page enabling wider coverage of the board games hobby. The new article series are nice additions and the extra reviews are more than welcome, and it will be good to see the new format bed in with future issues.

[Fanzine Focus XLII] The Travellers’ Digest Number 9

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 her 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. However, not all fanzines written with the Old School Renaissance in mind need to be written for a specific retroclone. Although not the case now, the popularity of Traveller would spawn several fanzines, of which The Travellers’ Digest, published by Digest Group Publications, was the most well known and would eventually transform from a fanzine into a magazine.

The publication of The Travellers’ Digest #1 in December, 1985 marked the entry of Digest Group Publications into the hobby and from this small, but ambitious beginnings would stem a complete campaign and numerous highly-regarded supplements for Game Designers Workshop’s Traveller and MegaTraveller, as well as a magazine that all together would run for twenty-one issues between 1985 and 1990. The conceit was that The Travellers’ Digest was a magazine within the setting of the Third Imperium, its offices based on Deneb in the Deneb Sector, and that it awarded the Travellers’ Digest Touring Award. This award would be won by one of the Player Characters and thus the stage is set for ‘The Grand Tour’, the long-running campaign in the pages of The Travellers’ Digest. In classic fashion, as with Europe of the eighteenth century, this would take the Player Characters on a tour of the major capitals of known space. These include Vland, Capitol, Terra, the Aslan Hierate, and even across the Great Rift. The meat of this first issue, as well as subsequent issues, would be dedicated to an adventure, each a stop-off on the ‘The Grand Tour’, along with support for it. The date for the first issue of The Travellers’ Digest and thus when the campaign begins is 152-1101, the 152nd day of the 1101st year of the Imperium.

To best run ‘The Grand Tour’, the Referee will need access to The Atlas of the Imperium, Supplement 8: Library Data (A-M), Supplement 11: Library Data (N-Z), Supplement 7: Traders and Gunboats (or alternatively, Supplement 5: Azhanti High Lightning), as well as the core rules. In addition, other supplements would be required depending on the adventure, in the case of this issue, The Travellers’ Digest Number 9, that would only be Book 8, Robots. Of course, that was in 1987, and much, if not all, of the rules or background necessary have been updated since. The campaign is also specifically written for use with four pre-generated Player Characters. They consist of Akidda Laagiir, the journalist who won the Travellers’ Digest Touring Award; Dur Telemon, a scout and his nephew; Doctor Theodor Krenstein, a gifted-scientist and roboticist; and Doctor Krenstein’s valet, ‘Aybee’, or rather, ‘AB-101’. The fact is, AB-101 is a pseudo-biological robot, both protégé and prototype. Consequently, the mix of Player Characters are surprisingly non-traditional and not all of them are easily created using the means offered in Traveller or MegaTraveller. This is addressed within various issues of the fanzine.

The Travellers’ Digest Number 9 was published in 1987 and is a very special issue, published at a momentous point in the history of Traveller and a momentous point in the history of the setting of Traveller. It is special because it marked the move to a larger format, both in terms of size and page. It is special because it was the first to have a full colour cover, for this issue depicting a member of the Emperor’s Guard, standing under the Imperial Palace in sight of the Moot Spire, the seat of power for the Third Imperium’s nobility. It was the first to cover content for Game Designers’ Workshop’s other Science Fiction roleplaying game, Traveller: 2300, hence the issue also carrying the tagline, “The quarterly adventure magazine devoted to GDW’s science fiction role playing game”. It was special because it brought the fanzine’s ongoing campaign, ‘The Grand Tour’, to Core, the capital of the Third Imperium. Which was highly pertinent because The Travellers’ Digest Number 9 was published for the tenth anniversary of Traveller, an event marked by that momentous point in the history of Traveller and a momentous point in the history of the setting of Traveller. The former was the publication of MegaTraveller, effectively the second edition of the roleplaying game which the team at Digest Publications had been developing. The latter was the assassination of Emperor Strephon and its calamitous consequences.

However, the momentous occurrences at the heart of The Travellers’ Digest Number 9 would have consequences upon the fanzine—arguably now a magazine—itself. The publication date for the issue is 144-1116, the 144th day of the 1116th year of the Imperium, but the events of the issue take place in 1104. This is because the journalist, Akidda Laagiir, is actually publishing the stories anew over a decade after they happened, long after his Grand Tour is over and with the benefit of hindsight. That year, 1116, is also the year when Emperor Strephon is assassinated. In fact, all of the key figures involved in that assassination appear in the issue’s feature adventure, ‘Before the Iridium Throne’. Which will be odd for any Traveller fan playing through the scenario, knowing what will happen in twelve years’ time and knowing that their characters can do nothing about it.

Since The Travellers’ Digest is now “The quarterly adventure magazine devoted to GDW’s science fiction role playing game”, the other major consequence is that there will be a dichotomy in its support for Traveller. This is that the magazine will continue to tell the story of ‘The Grand Tour’, taking place from 1101 onwards, whilst also providing content that supports the official timeline from 1116 and the assassination of Emperor Strephon. Which also means a dichotomy between the support for Traveller and MegaTraveller—although the magazine’s development and continued use of the ‘UTP’ or ‘Universal Task Profile’ offsets that. Of course, this is in addition to the dichotomy between the content for Traveller and Traveller: 2300!

After introducing the quartet of Player Characters for the ‘Grand Tour’, ‘Before the Iridium Throne’ sets up them with a deep concern as detailed in a lengthy bit of fiction, ‘Knight Falls on Capital’. This is the fact that ‘Aybee’, or rather, ‘AB-101’ is a robot and therefore not human, and technically should not have been knighted and inducted into the Order of the Emperor’s Guard. Akidda Laagiir, Dur Telemon, and Doctor Theodor Krenstein are guilty of deception at the very least. ‘Knight Falls on Capital’ is meant to be read out by the Referee, which is a lot of exposition to expose. The scenario is short, representing a chance for the Player Characters to explore Capital and the parts of the Imperial Palace complex as well as actually attend the audience with the Emperor himself. However, there really is not a lot for the Player Characters to do and not a lot of actual adventure. So, it can be completed in a single session. If the Referee wants more, the scenario suggests that Emperor Strephon actually asks the Player Characters to arrange a sixteenth birthday part for his daughter, Princess Cencia Iphegenia. Which is an interesting social challenge, but one that the Referee will have to develop herself—and there is not a lot of advice to that end.

The dichotomy in The Travellers’ Digest Number 9 comes to the fore with the second scenario in the issue. This is ‘Lion At Bay – A MegaTraveller Scenario’ by Gary L. Thomas. Being written for use with MegaTraveller, it is set in 1116. However, it is set on Capital and it is set against the backdrop of the assassination of Emperor Strephon. The Player Characters are the crew of the trade vessel, Eiriakh, an Aslan Khtukhao class transport which has ferried an Aslan trade mission from the Yerlyaruiwo clan to Capital. The trade mission is interrupted by the events in Imperial Palace, for which initially, the Aslan are blamed. As the events are reported on the news channels—again leading to a lot of exposition—the Aslan crew, currently tourists, quickly become subject to anti-Aslan sentiment and realise that they have to get off-world. Complicating this  is the need to get one of their colleagues out of gaol. Beyond that, although challenging, there is not a great deal for the Player Characters to do, expect be aghast at the news coming out of the Imperial Palace. Given this limitation, the scenario is actually a better read for its historical detail than it is for giving the Player Characters much to do.

To further support the setting of Capital and the Imperial Palace, The Travellers’ Digest Number 9 presents four more articles. ‘Crack Troops: The Imperial Guard’ by Terry McInnes details the history, guard life, dispositions, and organisation of all eleven regiments that protect the emperor and his family as well as serving elsewhere. It suggests the possibility that a Player Character might have served in the Imperial Guard. ‘The Imperial Palace’ by Rob Caswell and William W. Connors describes the Grand Palace of the Third Imperium in the city of Cleon on Capital, including the previous palaces, facilities, and history. This is accompanied by the description of the spire that is ‘The Moot’ by Gary L. Thomas, as well as a good map of ‘The Imperial Palace Grounds on Capital’. Pertinent now to the Player Characters of ‘The Grand Tour’ is Bob Swarm’s ‘Noblesse Oblige: The Imperial Nobility’, which examines the role and place of the noble class in the Third Imperium. It draws a clear distinction between the orders of knighthood, honour nobles (knights, baronets, barons, and maquis), rank nobility, and high nobility, and the broad responsibilities of each. It gives guidelines too on creating nobles as Player Characters and NPCs, and a more granular means of determining status within the nobility. This is very well done article that gives a guide to one of the archetypal NPCs (and potentially Player Characters) in Traveller. 

There was element of humour in ‘Knight Falls on Capital’, the ‘Grand Tour’ scenario in the issue in its depiction of Emperor Strephon. This humanised him, as does the subsequent ‘An Interview with the Emperor’, conducted and written in game by the journalist, Akidda Laagiir. Again, it also touches upon what is regarded—in game and out—as ‘Strephon’s worst decision’, the appointment of Dulinor Ilethian as Archduke of Ilelish. He defends the action, of course, but as we know, the Emperor’s critics were proven to be right. Nevertheless, an interesting read that gives his view of the Imperium.

‘The Core Sector: XBoat Routes’ is a simple blocky map, and it is followed by Dale L. Kemper’s ‘Library Data of the Core Sector’. Given its history and prominence in Third Imperium and Charted Space, it should be no surprise that entries do detail a larger number of the great and the good, battles, wars, and the like than is the norm. There is a particular focus on the founding of the insular Interstellar Confederacy (a major opponent to the rise of the Sylean Federation) and the Civil War of the Interstellar Confederacy (both hundreds of years before the foundation of the Third Imperium). It is accompanied by maps of the ‘Bunkeria Subsector’ and Cemplas Subsector’ in Core sector, where the Interstellar Confederacy was established.

‘The Gaming Digest: Let’s Get Physical’ by Gary L. Thomas and Bill Paley examines the definitions, uses, and limitations of the Strength, Dexterity, and Endurance attributes in Traveller. This is a follow up to the earlier examinations in previous issues of the fanzine, providing basic skill rolls, using the UTP—or ‘Universal Task Profile’—for all three. 

The issue is rounded out with two last articles. One is ‘Traveller Q&A’ in which both Joe D. Fugate Sr. and Marc Miller answer questions about Traveller. Such as what does the Imperial flag look like and what is the colour is the flag of Third Imperium? The answer being that it is the symbol and shape of a star—originally Capital’s G3 star of yellow on a black background—that matters, not the colour.  The other questions cover assigning task difficulties in scenarios and differences between the distribution of high-tech, high starport-rated worlds in the Sol subsector versus the Vland subsector. The answer to the latter is interesting again from an in-game points of view and an out of game one too, examining how worlds are distributed across sector and subsector maps. The other is ‘Civilian Vehicles for Traveller: 2300’ by Rob Caswell. This describes the Saab-Sikorsky ‘Condor VX’ VTOL, which is found on Earth and across the colonies, and the Renault ‘Pioner’ HUV, which is an ATV found on many frontier worlds, but especially those of the French Arm. This is the only support for Traveller: 2300 in the issue.

Physically, The Travellers’ Digest Number 9 feels cleaner and tidier than previous issues. Some of the artwork is also much better and overall, this is a much more professional looking issue.

There is another dichotomy to The Travellers’ Digest Number 9. On the one hand, as a gaming fanzine, there is little to actually game with in the issue. The two scenarios are both short and very specific in their content. On the other, background content is excellent, expanding the world of Traveller and the Third Imperium with intriguing details, from a very high level, but also showing how little that the average Player Character or ‘Traveller’ can do to change things. The Travellers’ Digest Number 9 gives a fascinating prelude of things to come, is a fantastic read about the state of the Imperium years before any of those things come to pass, and will be enjoyed by the Traveller fan for its background rather than its playable content. If The Travellers’ Digest has always been an interesting read, with The Travellers’ Digest Number 9, it becomes a genuine historical artefact as much as it is slice of history.

[Fanzine Focus XLII] Hypergraphia Issue o

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, as has Swords & Wizardry. Of course, not all fanzines are dedicated to classic fantasy roleplaying games.

Hypergraphia Issue o was published in August, 2017 for release the following October at NecronomiCon Providence 2017. It takes its name from the rare behavioural condition in which the sufferer has the compulsive urge to write or draw, often resulting in voluminous amounts of text or detailed illustrations. However, the fanzine does not suffer from the effects of the latter, since it only runs to thirty-two pages in length. In-keeping with the nature of NecronomiCon Providence: The International Conference and Festival of Weird Fiction, Art, and Academia, a biennial convention and academic conference held in Providence, Rhode Island dedicated to the life and works of H. P. Lovecraft and other creators of weird fiction, film, and art, the contents of the fanzine are dedicated to Lovecraftian investigative horror. Mechanically, all of the content is written for Cthulhu Dark, the rules light roleplaying game of Lovecraftian investigative horror. What this means that all of the content is readily adaptable to the roleplaying game of Lovecraftian investigative horror (or just horror) of the Game Master’s choice.

The issue opens with ‘Night Business – Three scenario hooks for Cthulhu Dark’s London 1851 setting’ by Charles Gerard. They include ‘Link-Boys’ in which it rumoured that the Link-Boys that once lit the way home for pedestrians on the streets of London have retreated from the gaslit streets into the maze of alleyways and other dark routes, where razor-teethed , some hunt the unwary. ‘Rat-Catchers’ asks how far will the suppliers for the rat-baiting pits go in providing tougher creatures and what happens when the rats push back? Lastly, in ‘Resurrectionists’, the cadaver gangs have returned to London to fulfil a shortage of bodies for the surgeons and the anatomists. Where have the bodies of the dead of the workhouses gone and who is disinterring the dead now? Overall, nicely detailed ideas that the Game Master can develop into some further.

In between, Ed Possing’s ‘Unwanted Visitor’ is a short piece of fiction that hints at the dread of being alone in the cabin in the woods, as ‘Cleaning Up the Supernatural – An investigator background for any game system’ from Tyler Hudak explores the role of the janitor or garbage collector in horror games. He notes that theirs is a ubiquitous and unnoticed presence, collecting rubbish, raking over the trash, and having access to caustic chemicals and disposal systems. There are no game stats, but it suggests that stealth and hiding skills are appropriate along with lower social skills and a lower social status given the nature of the job. It is perhaps slightly too basic a description to really work from, but the article is accompanied by a trio scenario hooks and a description of ‘The Order of Janus’, originally founded in Ancient Rome to clean up evidence of activity. In the modern day, the Janus Corporation performs crime scene clean-up for law enforcement around the world. It is an interesting idea and would be fascinating to see this developed further with some actual scenarios and Occupational write-up.

There is more support for the period with Max Mahaffa’s ‘Ashes in the Dark – A scenario hook for Cthulhu Dark’s London 1851 setting’. It highlights the horrors of being a chimney sweep in the Victorian era, whilst also presenting a horror they could encounter at 50 Berkeley Square, infamously described as, ‘the most haunted house in London’. Essentially, there is something nasty in the chimneys of the townhouse, and the sweeps are noticing how few boys go in and come out again. What if the Player Characters are given the task of sweeping the townhouse’s twisted, cramped chimneys? Playing on claustrophobia, it includes lists of key words to describe the location, physical feelings, and the monster itself.

Somewhere on the road to Kingsport stands ‘The Green Bough Inn – A setting for any game system’ by Anthony Lee-Dudley. The dark and sombre building is as unwelcoming as the family that run it. The accompanying adventure seeds suggest that the family leads a cult in the nearby woods, that have something growing in the attic, and so on. In comparison to the hooks presented elsewhere in the issue, these are threadbare and will need no little development to be fully useful.

Ian MacLean explores the mysteries and legends of Canada in ‘Occultarum Borealis’. In particular, the lost village of Hochelaga. The St. Lawrence Iroquoian village was described by French explorer Jacques Cartier in October, 1535, in some detail as being well-defended, organised, and home to two thousand indigenous peoples. However, when Samuel de Champlain, ‘the father of New France’, visited the area seventy years later, it was gone. Although suggestions are given as to what actually happed—war, emigration, or disease—the article suggests that the Player Characters could be European visitors or even other locals looking to trade, but they could also be from rival tribes wanting to war on the village of Hochelaga. Further, he suggests Mythos involvement in the form of Iroquoian legends of the Flying Head, said to ride on howling winds, ripping its victims apart with bloodied claws. Could this be Nyarlathotep as the Haunter of the Dark. Alternatives include suggestions which could be the ‘Little People’ or the ‘White Buffalo’ that seek the surface to writhe and ravage the lands that could be Cthonians. Another option could be Mi-Go interference given European interest in mining rights. This is one of the more detailed articles in the fanzine and gives a lot of suggestions for the Game Master to work with, no matter which roleplaying game she is using.

‘Fragments of Fears and Phobias – Coulrophobia: Fear of Clowns’ by Sean Murphy examines the history of clowns, clowning, and the phobia some have of them. It notes that their portrayal in the media as monsters preying on children and adults alike, combined with their not quite human appearance has constantly pushed children’s happy association with clowns into fear and loathing. It is a solid overview of what appears to be a relatively new phobia and it would be interesting to see other phobias treated in the same way. Sadly, there are no hooks as there are in other articles in the fanzine.

Penultimately, Edwin Nagy takes the reader to the venue for NecronomiCon Providence, more recently seen in The Shadow Over Providence. In ‘Horror at the Biltmore’, he describes the planned multi-table Call of Cthulhu scenario at NecronomiCon Providence 2017 in which it possible for players to buy elements such as a revolver, or spell or if they are feeling nasty, a monster to add to the playthrough, and the monies going to charity. This sounds a lot of fun and a future issue of the fanzine should definitely tell what happened.

Lastly, ‘Off the Rails’ by Brian Murphy explores what happens when the players take their Investigators and gave them do something entirely unexpected, even also most counter to the scenario being played. Or at least, what happens when the Investigators decided to settle down in the Dreamlands with a lot of money in their playthrough of The Sense of the Sleight-of-Hand Man. His solution is to escalate events to the point where the Investigators were turned into pariahs and driven from the city which had burned down after it was attacked by the Black Ship owned by the Men of Leng which the Investigators had sold. It is thoroughly apocalyptic and quite, quite entertaining.

Physically, Hypergraphia Issue o is clean, tidy, and simply laid out. The artwork is a mixture of photographs and publicly available images and well chosen.

Hypergraphia Issue o is a good mix of background and suggested ideas for play. All of it needs development to one degree or another, in order to make it playable. Otherwise this is an engaging read that will work for almost horror roleplaying game.

[Fanzine Focus XLII] The Beholder Issue 7

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, 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 No. 7 was published in October 1979. It is the post-DragonMeet II issue and the editors noted that nobody approached them at the event to point out the ‘deliberate mistake’ hidden in the previous issue. They do explain what it was, but you really have to know your Dungeons & Dragons spells to have spotted it. The issue is also the much-heralded ‘SUPER MONSTER ISSUE !’. To that end, its contents start with ‘The Super Monster competition results’. Some seventy-five entries were received and some twenty of those are printed in the first third of the issue. The article leads with the winners. First place went to Peter M. Bright for the ‘Relkor’, a distorted human head with spider’s legs that gnaws off the head of its victims and then shoves its legs into the neck to control the body with the head on atop the stump. It can attack in surprise by leaping from the neck and it keeps its treasure below the neck. Dave Davies won second place with the ‘Stone Creature’. It is an ogre-like creature that can switch back and forth between a flesh form and a stone statue form and then use stealth to pick off its prey. (The issue’s editors suggest buffing it with a stealth ability.) The ‘Bleeder’ from Peter Williams is a version of the Rust Monster that feeds off the iron in blood and so when it bites and feeds slowly off its victims, they also suffer anaemia. These three definitely deserve their top three placement, because the rest are pretty much of a muchness. For example, the ‘Greebly’ by Andrew Whitcombe is a cold- or dungeon-dwelling ape that hates fire; James McRobert’s ‘Firefly’ is an insect so hot that its breath ignites into a jet of flame; and the undead ‘Singing Shadow’ by Martin Stollery can make any sound, throw its voice, and form into any shape.

‘Dragonmeet II’ is a convention report by the editors on the London-based convention and barring the fact that the Dungeon Master’s Guide for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition was on sale for the first time, there was little to enjoy at the event. They complain that other Dungeon Masters can be nasty when it comes to running the game. Both editors played part of G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King and it resulted in a total party kill, whilst the ‘D&D competition’ was described as absurd, with both a Paladin and an Anti-Cleric being in the same party, suggesting that the party should open a door was taken as the player’s character going through the door and almost dying, monsters that were actually other monsters, and arbitrary rulings. It just shows you that not every convention game was guaranteed to be good back in 1979, just as it is not today.

‘The Goblin Complex’ answers the fanzine’s readers’ request for a dungeon after the wilderness adventures of the previous two issues. It sets out to be what it calls a ‘coherent’ design with rooms that have a purpose and monsters that have reasons to be there and potential consequences to the actions of the Player Characters. In other words, this is not a ‘zoo’ dungeon with the underground complex being populated at random. It is suggested that the dungeon be run with miniatures and floorplans and gives some answers to questions raised in the playtest, such as “How far does the sound of a battle travel?” and “How easy is it to get up after being knocked down in heavy armour?”. It is designed for a party of six Player Characters of Third Level. The background to the dungeon is that after successful riads by Goblins from the mountains, retaliatory action against them has forced them to flee and many bands have dug refuges into the mountain. The scenario describes one of these. The Dungeon Master is warned that the Goblins will act intelligently, will surrender if forced to (rather than dying in a suicide charge), and will ransom prisoners—though the Hobgoblins are more likely to sacrifice them to their god, ‘Gax’. There is the occasional bit of tactical advice too as to what the Player Characters’ best course of action is, such as using the Cleric spell of Silence or the Wizard spell Sleep to ease their entry into the complex unannounced. It is a serviceable dungeon that in places does undermine the intended coherency such as the Hobgoblins wanting to sacrifice captives (though the Player Characters could persuade Goblins to ransom them instead, potentially leading to a squabble between the Goblins and Hobgoblins), there being pet giant scorpions and tigers, martial arts Hobgoblins, and even a (young) Black Dragon being effectively the last room in the dungeon. It is still playable and its design intent is obvious and well meant if not quite clearly carried through.

There is no playtest report of ‘The Goblin Complex’, but instead, the ‘Play Test’ is about an adventure set in a samurai castle. Only a page in length, it depicts a brutal raid on the castle to capture the Samurai King that ultimately goes wrong. The write-up does not outstay its welcome, but without the context of the adventure itself, it lacks context.

The publication and availability of the Dungeon Master’s Guide for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition mentioned previously in ‘Dragonmeet II’ leads to ‘The… AD&D Dungeon Master’s Guide – A Precis’ by co-editor, Guy R. J. Duke. It provides an overview of then the new book and notes rules chances such as the Monk now attacking on the Cleric/Druid table rather than the Thieves table, praises the ‘secret’ section on magic for the Dungeon Master, which expands the rules for magical research, potion concoction, scroll preparation, and more. The precis is less enamoured of the appendices randomly generating dungeons and wilderness as experienced Dungeon Masters are less likely to want them, but found that the alphabetical listing of the monsters with their attack and defence modes, Hit Dice, Experience Point rewards, and so on, to be very useful. Duke concludes by saying, “I can only advise you to buy the Guide as you can. The hardback version is well produced with impressive illustrations and a few jokes to relieve the overwhelming impression that the book has.” He continues, “Indeed, who can afford not to buy the Guide; it was guaranteed as a sell-out since its very conception. Those who don’t move with the time will be left far behind. The Dungeon Master’s Guide is not a thing to miss out on. Compared with the primary rules and its additional booklets of Greyhawk etc. Advanced Dungeons and Dragons is superior and above all cohesive.” Here then, what you have is that shift away from what Dungeons & Dragons was, which was rough and modular, to more coherent, singular point of reference, as seen through the eyes of a player and commentator.

The last article in the issue is ‘Magic Jar’, a collection of new magic items. The entries in the article include Fazzan’s Howling Skull, a magical skull which can be set as a surveillance device and which will howl and cause fear if any intruders are detected; the Cursed Illusion Sword which will make its wielder think it is a Dancing Sword; and a Ram Head of Terrible Destruction, a tough skull of a ram that if applied to a battering ram is more effective than a Horn of Blasting! These are all suitable additions to setting with a lot of magical items.

Physically, The Beholder Issue No. 7 is slightly untidy in places, but readable. The layout is tight and that does make it difficult to read in places. Both illustrations and cartography are reasonable.

The Beholder Issue No. 7 is interesting to read because it is a good snapshot of the hobby in 1979 and what the preoccupations of its players were. Notably more monsters and ways in which to test or surprise the players and their characters, and the eager anticipation with which the next big release from TSR, Inc. was expected. This is a solid issue, not necessarily great, but not bad either. It is interesting to see how the hobby occupies the attention of the editors and how much time they would have needed to devote to both it and the very regular releases of the fanzine.

[Fanzine Focus XLII] Satanic Panic Zine #1

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 her 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. The Satanic Panic Zine sets out to do something different and that is to chronicle and examine some of more events of the satanic panic of the eighties and nineties and their effect upon roleplaying games and the roleplaying hobby. Alongside that it will provide some gaming content.

Satanic Panic Zine #1, subtitled, “Why parents in the 1980s lost their fuckin’ minds over D&D”, was published in December, 2025, following a successful Kickstarter campaign. Published by Bloat Games, this is a very American fanzine, which makes sense because all of the events it describes and the moral panic itself—for the most part—took place in the USA. It opens with a table of ‘d66 Reasons Your Mom Thinks You Are A Satanist’, with entries such as “Mazes and Monsters was the movie of the week – thanks Tom Hanks!” and “The preacher tells her playing D&D will make you burn in hell.” and “She read a Chick Track.” and “Newspaper article on video games and the occult.” Slightly tongue-in-cheek, it sets the tone for the issue. The historical content begins with the expose by The 700 Club on the Christian Broadcasting Network, titled ‘Rock Music, D&D, Cartoons’. in which Pat Robertson alleged that youth of America were being corrupted by organized and secrets cults working in league for Satan himself. Bloat provides detailed description of the programme before countering it with his own personal experiences as a youth of the time, persecuted for his way of dressing, reading comics, and of course, playing Dungeons & Dragons.

He then goes on to condemn Robertson as ‘Ratt Pobertson’, “…[A] weak-minded, feeble old fool. His forked tongue only spews lies and hate. While he tries to convince everyone that he is righteous, holy, and good, he is a liar and a con.” providing stats for him as a fiendish, lying goblin, of course, Chaotic Evil, with stats for both Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition and ShadowDark. There is even a table of “[T]otally bogus Ratt Pobertson rumors, completely made up for this author’s amusement”. The other gaming content is ‘Garzax (Demon) With Occultists’, this time for Old School Essentials and lastly the Satanic Cult Member and the Satanic Cult Leader Necromancer, both for Bloat games’ own Survive THIS!! line of compatible roleplaying games.

Bloat asks if ‘The Stanic Panic Started in Canada?’ This examines the novel Michelle Remembers which recounts of suppressed memories satanic ritualistic abuse suffered as a child unlocked via therapeutic treatment and whilst subsequently debunked, it was quickly adopted as proof by Christian conservatives. He also looks at ‘The Sad Tale of Dallas Egbert’, which recounts the events of his disappearance from Michigan State University in 1979 and William Dear’s subsequent investigation and self-aggrandisement. He also ties it into Mazes & Monsters, Rona Jaffe’s novel, clearly inspired by the disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III, and the subsequent adaptation of the novel as a television film in 1982.

It is all a bit obvious. It also not really balanced by the gaming content or the reflection. Of course, there may be readers who are unaware of either the Satanic panic or its effect upon gaming, but they are going to be few in number. After all, the primary audience for the fanzine is those who lived through this period or have an interest in the history of gaming. Then the gaming content is nothing to write home about either. There may be an amusing entry or three on the issue’s various tables, but barely a handful of monsters for multiple systems do not make for useful content and they certainly do not work as a means to explore the Satanic Panic and its effects through gaming. No scenario, no plot hooks, no guide to bringing the Satanic Panic to life in anyone’s game. Plus, the reflection goes no further than it having been bad for the author.

Physically, Satanic Panic Zine #1 is well laid out in a manner designed to evoke the look an feel of heavy metal of the time and liberally illustrated. The choice of font makes it challenging to read in places.

There is plenty of scope for a gamer and creator to recount the events of the Satanic Panic and examine how they affected both him and the hobby itself and then couple it with some gaming content. That scope remains because Satanic Panic Zine #1 does not really fulfil its remit. Whilst the key events of the Satanic Panic are highlighted, their consequences are not, whether personally by the author or gaming at large—especially the latter. They are, in fact, ignored. Similarly, there is gaming content, but not useful gaming content. It could have been better if there had been multiple voices recounting their experiences of the Satanic Panic, if there had been a scenario or just a plot hook or two or if the author had any interesting to say. Satanic Panic Zine #1 could have been something interesting or informative, but it just manages to be underwhelming and self-indulgent at the same time.

[Fanzine Focus XLII] Gamma Zine #4

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 her 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. As popular in the Old School Renaissance as the genre is, not all fanzines are devoted to fantasy.

Gamma Zine carries the subtitle, ‘A Fanzine supporting early post-apocalyptic, science-fantasy RPGs – specifically First Edition Gamma World by TSR.’ This then, is a fanzine dedicated to the very first post-apocalyptic roleplaying game, Gamma World, First Edition, published by TSR, Inc. in 1978. Gamma Zine #1 was published in April, 2019, following a successful Kickstarter campaign as part of Zine Quest 1, whilst Gamma Zine #2 was published in February, 2020, following its own successful Kickstarter campaign as part of ZineQuest #2. Published by ThrowiGames!, it came as a black and white booklet, packed with content, including adventures, equipment, monsters, and more. Published as part of ZineQuest #3, Gamma Zine #3 was published in February, 2021 and promised more of the same—adventures, equipment, monsters, fiction, and so on.

Gamma Zine #4 was published in March, 2025, some four years after Gamma Zine #3! Published following a successful Kickstarter campaign for both Gamma Zine #4 and Back to BasiX #13. The delay between issues means that this the editorial is essentially an apology for the delay! The content proper starts with ‘Interview with Brian Shutter, Super Savage Systems’, the designer and publisher of Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland, the gonzo vomit-punk post-apocalyptic cassette futurism, using Basic Dungeons & Dragons. It explores his gaming history and the origins of the roleplaying game, but really does not make the setting itself interesting enough for the reader to want to take a look.

‘Horrors of the Wasteland’ adds new threats for post-apocalyptic settings. These include the ‘Mind Mongrel’, vicious canine hunters who form bonded pairs for life and use to telepathy to hunt together, such that a lone Mind Mongrel is at a penalty to attack. The Mind Mongrel can be trained as a pet, but this can only be done with puppies. The ‘Intelligent Gorilla’ is less interesting and just too basic. There is scope to present intelligent primates in a variety of ways for post-apocalyptic settings, but this ignores such possibilities entirely to just give a standard gorilla more brains.

‘Class Option – The Scaled’ continues the fanzine’s exploration of character concepts through the use of Classes, character archetypes which do not appear in Gamma World, First Edition. ‘The Scaled’ has high Constitution and limited Dexterity due to repeated exposure to radiation that has caused his skin to harden into scaly skin. He is also immune to petrification and has greater resistance to radiation. The Class can either have physical and mental mutations or use the extra abilities included with it description, such as ‘Enhanced Radiation Toughness’, ‘Steel Scales’, ‘Prehensile Tail’, and more. This is a solid Class which would work in a variety of post-apocalyptic roleplaying settings.

As would the Incendiary Grenade, Radiation Grenade, and other grenade types in ‘Artifacts of the Ancients. ‘Adventure #1 – Prepper’s Paradise’ will require a bit more work, but describes a surprisingly extensive family-built bunker built to survive the apocalypse. It has long been abandoned, flooded with radiation and infested with plants and bugs. Part of the bunker is hidden, so the Player Characters may not explore its depths. Ultimately, this is really only an opportunity missed as there is no reason given for the Player Characters to explore the bunker. Perhaps with a hook or two, there might have been? If they do, there is potential for the Player Characters to restore the bunker and turn it into a base.

The fanzine’s fiction, ‘The Hunted’, continues. Its continuing appearance is an excuse—or is that a need?—to go back and read the previous given that it has been so long between issues. It takes a while to get back into this, and it is enjoyable enough.

The second adventure in the issue is ‘Adventure #2 – Cicero’s Zoo’. This describes what was before the apocalypse a private zoo of endangered and deadly creatures. Its tight security and walls meant that it has survived, but still affected by radiation and other biological or chemical agents. The scenario takes the idea of the intelligent ape given earlier in ‘Horrors of the Wasteland’ and develops its potential. It is not an adventure as such, but rather an adventure site that the Game Master can add to her campaign. In typical Planet of the Apes fashion, it is led by an ape with a Classical name, in this case Cicero. He is intelligent and can read and talk and will trade and treaty with visitors. The zoo is nicely detailed and has a good map—though it could have been bigger for clarity—useful if the Player Characters want to raid it or break in. Cicero is given some motivations, but there is little in the way of advice for the Game Master on how to use it. The Game Master will need to work hard to do more with this, but otherwise, Cicero’s Zoo is ready to drop straight into her campaign.

The issue moves to a close with a Loot Table for ‘Office Desk Search’ which is serviceable enough and two ‘Artifact Use and Operation Charts’, one for ‘Simple Trap Detection’ and one for ‘Mechanical Trap Detection’, which develop the concept of working out what an artefact does into a broader application. Lastly, the issue closes with ‘In Memoriam: Jim Ward’, a short tribute to the designer of Metamorphosis Alpha: Fantastic Role-Playing Game of Science Fiction Adventures on a Lost Starship, the progenitor of Gamma World. It is fitting, but perhaps a bit short.

Physically, Gamma Zine #4 is neat and tidy. It is decently written and nicely illustrated with good art throughout. Each of the scenarios is accompanied by excellent maps.

The ultimate problem for Gamma Zine #4 is the gap between it and its previous issue. This leaves the fiction unmoored and requiring more work to remind the reader what it is about. Elsewhere though the content is good and it is useful, but the adventures warrant a bit more to make immediately useful and applicable to a Game Master’s campaign. The content is easily adapted, but better suited for post-apocalyptic roleplaying games with a drier, slightly less fantastic tone, such as Free League Publishing’s Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days. It is debatable whether the wait for Gamma Zine #4 has been worth it. The content is good, but the adventures need some plot and some hooks to make them really useful.