[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.

[Fanzine Focus XXXVII] Gamma Zine #3

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.

Like the previous two issues, Gamma Zine #3 begins with an interview. In Gamma Zine #1, the interview was with the late James M. Ward, the designer of both Gamma World and its predecessor, Metamorphosis Alpha, whereas the interview in Gamma Zine #2 was with Luke Gygax. This was not just because his father is E. Gary Gygax, but also because he is listed as the co-author of GW1 Legion of Gold, the very first scenario for Gamma World. The interview in Gamma Zine #3 is with Bill Barsh, the owner of Pacesetter Games & Simulations. In the interview, he discusses publishing content for the Old School Renaissance, but the main subject was the then forthcoming Gamma X—Gamma World 8thEdition, a retroclone based on the first and second editions of Gamma World, but using the mechanics of the ‘B/X’ version of Basic Dungeons & Dragons. The interview is interesting when discussing what was planned at the time, but since then, sadly, the only title to appear is the playtest adventure, GX0.5 Warrendome.

Otherwise, there is a good mix of content with the issue. This starts with the three monsters in ‘Horrors of the Wasteland’. They include the ‘Bicat’, more akin to a Tyrannosaurus Rex than a cat, bipedal with its arms ending taloned fingers and a preference for attacking the weakest targets; the ‘Chemslime’, a sentient pool of slime combining organic matter, chemical spills, and radiation, and capable of assuming partial humanoid form; and the ‘Lizscorpion’, its back half Komodo Dragon with a stinger tail, its front half scorpion all with pincers and mandibles. These are all nasty creatures, some of them quite big threats. Pleasingly, these are not just monster entries, but they actually appear in the issue’s three scenarios.

Gamma World, First Edition and other early post-apocalyptic roleplaying games did not do Classes in the sense of Dungeons & Dragons. Gamma Zine offers them as an option. In Gamma Zine #1, it was the Artificer and in Gamma Zine #2, it was the Wasteland Blacksmith, but here it is the Wasteland Ghoul, a mutated humanoid which survives and thrives in areas of radiation and other poisons and chemicals. This has come at a cost though, as the radiation and chemicals have destroyed parts their brain and one or more internal organs. In game terms they are impervious to radiation or poison of Intensity 17 or lower and take minimum damage from higher Intensities. Even though a mutant, the Wasteland Ghoul cannot have any mental mutations and is limited in choice, such as ‘Physical Reflection (radiation)’, ‘Radiated Eyes’, and ‘Radioactive Healing’. They have limited Intelligence, but are hardier and stronger. Their primarily role is as a scout for entering high intensity radiation areas that the other Player Characters cannot. The Class feels heavily influenced by the Fallout series of computer games, but that is no bad thing. Like the creatures of ‘Horrors of the Wasteland’, the Class also appears in one the issue’s scenarios.

Similarly, the three weapons of ‘Artifacts of the Ancients’ all appear in the scenarios. Written by Jarred Wray Wallace, they include the Vibro Sword, the Sonic Pistol, and the Stasis Ray Rifle, all nice classic additions to the genre. The issue also continues the fiction begun in the first issue with another two chapters of ‘The Hunted’. ‘The Hunted, Chapter Three’ picks up where the story left off, with Whyla and her faithful cybernetic hound, Arnold, having defeated the bandits who ambushed them, but with Arnold damaged and deactivated. The two chapters track her attempt to get Arnold to a cybernetic doctor. Unfortunately, her efforts do not go as well as she hopes and she finds herself in more danger and separated from her faithful companion. Again, it ends on a cliffhanger, hopefully to be resolved in Gamma Zine #4. Nevertheless, the story is engaging and it nicely depicts the dangerous world of its future.

As with previous issues, Gamma Zine #3 comes with three adventures. The first adventure is ‘The Chemaxis Refinery’ and is designed for starting Player Characters. This details a chemical manufacturing facility which the Player Characters have heard is a ready source of biochemical weaponry and energy cells. They will also have heard about the numerous failed attempts to get into the facility due to the high radiation. What is odd is that the radiation does not extend beyond the fence surrounding the compound. When they do manage to sneak in, the Player Characters discover that it is being operated by a band of Wasteland Ghouls who are siphoning off the contents of the tanks of chemical waste to create the bioweaponry and more. The description of the facility is nicely detailed and there is quite lot going on in terms of the Wasteland Ghouls trying to access and use the chemicals and toxins stored there, but they do come off as a faceless workers to be killed rather than interacted with. There is plenty of loot to be found in the facility and it would make a good potential base for the Player Characters, if cleaned up.

The second adventure, ‘The Petrified Fortress’, is intended for Player Characters with slightly more experience. When travelling in a petrified forest, the Player Characters come across one that towers far above the others. It turns out that this tree was converted into a secret military base and once they have found their way inside, the Player Characters get caught up in a war inside between machine and nature. The robot units are under siege by sentient plants spreading from the facility’s biodome. The robots will not attack the Player Characters and the suggestion in the scenario is that the Player Characters come to their aid and again, that this is potentially a good base for them.

‘Palace of the Bandit King’ is the third adventure and is suited for experienced and well-equipped Player Characters. This has more of a plot right from the start with the Player Characters hired by several settlements who are sick of the predations of a local bandit king and have scraped together enough funds to pay them. Bandit King Prentas Smythe’s palace is sealed in a desert ravine where he and his bandit horde host pit-fighting tournaments! It has only the one known entrance, so either the Player Characters are going to try to find another one or they are going in the front, the suggestion being that they disguise themselves as merchants or would be pit fighters. The bandits’ reputation for being evil is well founded and their base is effectively a slaughterhouse. Their base is very reminiscent of Jabba the Hutt’s palace in Return of the Jedi and as with the previous two adventures, would make for a very good base for the Player Characters. It is also the most straightforward of the adventures in the fanzine and the most familiar in terms of its plot. After all, bandits, pit fighting, and cannibalism in a post-apocalyptic setting? That certainly has a ring of familiarity to it. The inclusion of the plot means that it is the best of the three with ‘The Chemaxis Refinery’ being more of a techno-dungeon than a scenario.

Physically, Gamma Zine #3 is neat and tidy. It is decently written and nicely illustrated with good art throughout. Each of the scenarios is accompanied by excellent maps.

There is much here that the Game Master can use in her campaign, whether that is for Gamma World or another post-apocalyptic roleplaying game. 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. With three adventures, all nicely detailed, though varying in terms of how much plot they have, Gamma Zine #3 provides a good amount of playable content.

[Fanzine Focus XXXI] Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules

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 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. Another popular choice of system for fanzines, is Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, seen in titles such as Crawl! One notable feature of the range of fanzines for Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game is that they often support and showcase the settings and campaigns created by their authors. Crawl Under a Broken Moon, for example, details a post-apocalyptic setting which would be collated in the pages of the Goodman Games distributed The Umerican Survival Guide – Core Setting Guide, whilst Ghostlike Crime #01, One of Us, Ninja City, and Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery Volume 1 all explored familiar genres of their own for the mechanics of the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game.

Similarly, Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules supports a very familiar genre, one that has much in common with Ninja City. One of the cultural hits of the eighties was the indie comic, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and then for roleplaying, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness roleplaying game, published by Palladium Books. Bronx Beasts provides the rules to create and play bizarre mutant animal characters in wild eighties urban action, much in the mode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but written of course, for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game. In fact, not so much in the mode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness, but exactly like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness. Republished via a Kickstarter campaign as part of ZineQuest #3 by Bronx Beasts, Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules provides the rules to create anthropomorphic animals and mutate and modify them, and then the rules for playing them.

Character creation in Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules is built around a series of tables. Beast Origin is random mutation or deliberate experimentation. Determined randomly, if the former, the player rolls on the Random Mutation Experience Table’, but if the latter, he rolls on the ‘Deliberate Experimentation Origin Table’. The results for this are further tables for ‘Biological Research Origin Experience’, ‘Military Origin Experience’, ‘Criminal Origin Experience’, or ‘Special Interest Origin Experience’. None of these add stat bonuses or other benefits, instead simply creating elements of the Player Character’s background. The ‘Beast Type’ table provides a hundred entries, from aardvark, alligator, and ape to wolf, wolverine, and zebra. None are described, so the player will need to do some further reading, but in the main, these animals are all familiar and easy to read up about. ‘Beast Size’ does modify the character, adjusting Armour Class, Strength and melee check die, Hide and Sneak die, Hit Dice, Movement, and weight. Bigger creatures will have lower Armour Class and Hide and Sneak die, but everything else will be higher.

The player is then free to adjust the ‘Beast Form’ of his animal character, shifting his speech, legs, hands, and looks to be more human-like or more animal-like. Either full, partial, or none, these are randomly determined and adjusted by expending Evolution Points. These can also be spent to change a Beast’s size, for example, to play a larger mouse or smaller elephant, add abilities such as a prehensile tail, natural weapons or natural armour, and better movement. These are not hard and fast rules, so instead the player and Judge will need to work together to create Beast-type character that fits the style and setting of the genre. Otherwise, character creation follows the standard rules for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, although Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules does have its own ‘Lucky Signs’ table.

Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules does not provide any new Classes. In fact, a Beast has no Class, and instead, a player can choose between increasing his character’s Base Attack Modifier or Saving Throws Level by Level. In terms of game play, Beasts are Lucky. They always have a bonus on the Lucky Sign and they both benefit and suffer from Fleeting Luck. One way of gaining Fleeting Luck is for the Beast to give into his animalistic urges, typically in socially or intellectually challenging situations. If the player declines the offer of Fleeting Luck in return for his Beast succumbing to his urges, a Beast Check against Personality or Intelligence is required to overcome them. A Player can also do ‘Fur Burn’ or temporarily burn points of Personality or Intelligence to gain a modifier to die rolls. The last big change is to the rules for Armour Class, which is based on Reflex, Beast Size, and any shield carried. Armour is represented by a die and is instead rolled to soak damage. The armour worn is damaged and steps down a die size any time a one is rolled on the Armour Die. The rules for armour use are similar to those for The Umerican Survival Guide – Core Setting Guide, but not as developed.

Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules ends with an announcement of what is in the next issue. This includes an adventure against a criminal ninja gang and ‘Natural Weapon Crit Tables’ amongst other things. It would have been useful to have had the latter in the pages of Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules to make it more versatile.

Physically, Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules is well presented. The artwork has a certain rough quality, but is as cartoonish as you would expect.

As standalone product Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules can be played as is, but it feels incomplete. Certainly, the ‘Natural Weapon Crit Tables’ would have rounded it out. However, plug the pages of Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules into another setting or genre and the content comes alive. Take it into the post apocalypse of The Umerican Survival Guide – Core Setting Guide for possible mutant action or throw it down alongside Ninja City for some real new York eighties action, and Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules feels right at home.

[Fanzine Focus XXXI] Love Letters From The Baker House Band

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 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 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. Some fanzines though are not written for a specific roleplaying game or roleplaying games, but are instead about roleplaying and the hobby.

Love Letters from the Baker House Band is not a fanzine about one author’s campaign or his thoughts upon gaming, but instead a collaborative project put together by the various members of a long running gaming group hosted by the games designers, Vincent and Meguey Baker. Funded via Kickstarter as part of Zine Quest #2, its content includes art, reviews, and game design firmly placed in the Indie style or storytelling style of roleplaying, which should be no surprise given that Vincent Baker is the designer of Apocalypse World, the 2010 roleplaying game whose Powered by the Apocalypse mechanics have been adapted to numerous roleplaying games such as Matrons of Mystery and Cartel: Mexican Narcofiction Powered by the Apocalypse to drive strong storytelling. However, there is relatively little that is specifically for Powered by the Apocalypse roleplaying games in the pages of the fanzine, and what there is, is easily adapted to the roleplaying game of the reader’s choice.

Love Letters from the Baker House Band opens with Roxanne Gariepy’s tribute to the group, ‘Love Makes a Family’, depicting a group of misfits—the characters if not necessarily, but probably as much, their players—who come together (to play) and are bound by love. Including a bird and a sentient ‘pile of laundry’ and nicely illustrated, this captures the feel of a gaming group sharing experiences and coming together as a family and hints what it is like being a member of the Baker House Band. The gaming group’s influence is also seen in Evan Janssen’s ‘How Gaming at the Bakers’ Helped Me Design Better Video Games’, which recounts how his experience playing and running roleplaying games influenced and changed how he designs video games. Of course, roleplaying and Dungeons & Dragons have been a strong influence upon video games and especially video roleplaying games, but here the author uses the languages and the tools used by a Game Master to improve how he designs video games. The parallels between the two are fascinating and highlight how the skills used in gaming can be useful beyond its confines.

The first gaming content in the fanzine is ‘Barbara’s Book Club & Motorcycle Gang’ by Alix Janssen. This is both a book club and hardcore motorcycle gang of tough women in crisp print dresses, headscarves, heels, and big motorcycles who read and ride. Armed with their rides, their books, their big handbags containing all manner of useful items, the ladies ride the apocalypse bringing manners and a helpful attitude wherever they go. Obviously written for use with Apocalypse World, but pointers and tags rather than stats, this gang would fit into most post-apocalyptic settings, but also a great many other settings if the Game Master wants a memorable set of eccentric old biddies. ‘Tales of Timberwind’ by Elliot Baker and Tovey Baker introduces an anthropomorphic cosy woodland setting in the style of Mouse Guard or Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game, which sounds intriguing, but leaves the reader wanting more. However, to learn more, the reader will need to sign up for the family’s Patreon.

Tovey Baker’s other contribution to Love Letters from the Baker House Band is ‘Hvanrost City’. This is a setting for Blades in the Dark, the roleplaying game crime and gang activity set in a Dickensian industrial city. Notably, this city is powered by pipes filled with electric eels or leeches, but it is also ghost haunted and surrounded by a toxic mist which rolls off the sea and changes creatures into giant mindless animals. There is plenty to work with here for the Game Master to use the city for his own campaign.

The highlight and the bulk of Love Letters from the Baker House Band consists of Meguey Baker’s ‘Baker House LARP’. Each year, as a teacher, she has hosted a LARP for her teenage students over a five-day period. This is full of advice on how to set up, run, adjudicate, and get the most out of such event, along with advice and commentary based on her experiences. There is a great deal to work through here and perhaps could have been better presented—likely as a separate guide for other educators—but it is fascinating to how this is done. For most readers, this will be an interesting article rather than a useful one, but for the teacher, or someone with a similar role, looking to host something along the same lines, this is to be recommended.

‘The Care and Keeping of Waifs, Strays, and Castaways – A Practical Guide’ by Adin Klotz is a set of pointers and warnings that works as a narrative too, whilst Micah’s ‘Legend of Mandoom’s Leg’ is a short, four-page comic which hilariously turns a Dirty Harry style confrontation aboard a school bus on its head with an ‘Unnatural Lust Transfixion’ Powered by the Apocalypse-style move. It is funny and weird, but captures that moment a desperate dice roll can send a situation in a completely different direction with an unexpected move. ‘PBTA reviews from the BHB’ by Josh Savoie reviews six Powered by the Apocalypse roleplaying games including Dungeon World and Masks: A New generation, and is a good overview of some of the best of the very many roleplaying games available using its mechanics.

Josh Savoie also provides the Powered by the Apocalypse move, ‘Last Breath’. It is made when a Player Character is reduced to zero Hit points and has the opportunity to utter his last words. It begins by asking the other players round the table a number of questions, the bonus to the roll being determined by their answers. The Player Character is going to die, but this gives him one last action, whether glorious or helpful. It is pleasingly dramatic. ‘Shadow Magic’ by Annika Sturmer is more straightforward and designed for long term play, providing a means of teleportation or travel via the shadows, though it is not without its perils. Failure gives the result, “You bring something with you or leave something behind that you did not intend.”, which is again a dramatically great result. This move would work in a number of genres, whether fantasy, superheroes, or urban fantasy. It would be good to see this developed into a suite of moves rather than just the one here.

Love Letters from the Baker House Band comes to a close just as it started with tribute. Again, this is to the family and the gaming group as a family. Sebastian’s ‘D&D Day’ captures the feel and joy of play in an all-day session which runs to midnight. It is a lovely memory, which perhaps wistfully, as adults we miss a great deal.

Physically, Love Letters from the Baker House Band is a lovely fanzine. It needs an edit here or there, but is decently presented.

Love Letters from the Baker House Band is a snapshot of a gaming group and the pleasure its members take in gaming together and being in each other’s company. There are useful things to be found in its pages, especially for educator wanting to host a LARP for his students, but those are not necessarily what this fanzine is about. As a fanzine, Love Letters from the Baker House Band achieves a rare sense of warmth and feeling that radiates from the title on the cover to the very last page—and that is what sets it apart.

[Fanzine Focus XXVIII] Outlaws ‘N’ Owlbears

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. However, whilst the fanzine format is typically used to support other roleplaying games, it has also been used as a vehicle for complete, if small roleplaying games of their own.

Outlaws ‘N’ Owlbears is a fantasy Wild West that never was. One in which locomotives powered by elementals bound to their steam engines crisscross the United States of America, sorcerers and wizards feud for possession of magical nexuses whose power they aim to harness. Creatures out of your wildest imagination stalk the prairies and the mountains, prospectors hunt for rare and exotic materials, and sometimes, the salesman actually sells snake oil that works! Elves are naturally magical, Dwarves slow, practical, and industrious, Humans tenacious even in the face of death, and Goblins, created as soldiers for a Dark Lord in a long-forgotten war, are small and sneaky! Published following a successful Kickstarter campaign as part of ZineQuest 3, the fantasy Wild West genre-crossover of Outlaws ‘N’ Owlbears has, of course, been done before, most notably with Owl Hoot Trail. However, what Outlaws ‘N’ Owlbears is a fairly light, Old School Renaissance style RPG that is easy to pick up and play and packs everything necessary to run a game in forty pages, including in introductory adventure.

A Player Character in Outlaws ‘N’ Owlbears has five attributes—Might, Agility, Wits, Guts, and Endurance. These are rated between one and five. He also has Grit, which is spent to push a Player Character onward, and use certain talents and cast magic. He has a Species—Elf, Dwarf, Human, or Goblin, which provides a Species trait, and a Talent, a special ability or skill. Example Talents include Brawler (unarmed and improvised attacks count as hand weapons), Cookie (meals are so revitalising that they double healing rates), or Silver Tongue (advantage with bribery, persuasion, deception, and similar tests). Prestige Talents are also available, but a Player Character needs to have at least other five other Talents before choosing a Prestige Talent. To create a character, a player assigns values to his character’s five attributes, selects both a Species and a Talent—which can be a spell, and either purchases some equipment or chooses a ready to play package. The process is quick and easy, taking mere minutes.

Earl Dawhinney

Might 2 Agility 3 Wits 4 Guts 3 Endurance 3

Grit 2

Hit Points: 6

Speed: 5

Talent: Sleight of Hand

Equipment: Belt, satchel, provisions (five days’ worth), clothes, Gunfighter Package (Sixgun, .38 calibre bullets (50), Bullet Loops, Range Wear, $7)

Mechanically, Outlaws ‘N’ Owlbears is simple. Whenever a player wants his character to undertake an action, he rolls a six-sided die. If the result is equal to, or less than, the appropriate attribute, the character succeeds. If a character has an advantage, whether due to a situation or a Talent, he rolls two six-sided dice and chooses the lowest. Similarly, if he is at a disadvantage, he rolls two six-sided dice and chooses the highest. Both double advantage and double disadvantage are possible, but the maximum number of dice a player will ever roll is three, and advantage and disadvantage cancel each other out. If a test is failed, a player can opt for ‘Double or Nothing’, and roll again. However, the consequences for failure are far worse.

A Player Character also has Grit. This is expended to cast spells, activate certain talents, such as Challenge (spend a point of Grit to call out an opponent) and Rage (doubles Might damage in melee, but leaves the character vulnerable), take extra actions or moves in combat, or make a reaction in combat after being attacked.

Combat is quick and dirty. Initiative is handled by a small deck of playing cards. It consists of ordinary playing cards selected by the players, and when their selected card is drawn, the player’s character acts. Might is used for melee attacks and Agility for ranged attacks. Hand weapons inflict a six-sided die’s worth of damage, plus the attacker’s Might, whilst guns inflict six-sided die’s worth of damage, plus two, three, or four depending on the weapon. The defender’s Endurance reduces any damage suffered, as does armour, such as a duellist’s coat or boilerplate. It is possible to dodge or parry in combat, but this requires a point of Grit to be expended. If a Player Character is not wearing armour or dodging or parrying, then combat in Outlaws ‘N’ Owlbears can be deadly as a couple of hits will likely kill a Player Character. Hit Points can fall below zero, in which case critical damage is suffered, and a Player Character might be wounded or even killed. Guns (and dynamite) also have a chance of chance of misfiring—a roll of a six, and the various guns and weapons have their own qualities, like Armour Penetration or Concealable.

Everyone in Outlaws ‘N’ Owlbears can use magic. Spells cost Grit to cast and require a Wits test, and the caster can often augment a spell by expending further Grit. Magic itself is divided into five schools—Blood (damage spells), Earth (drawn from both the solid and the molten rock), Light (hopes, dreams, and beliefs), Nature (to do with living things, evolution, and growth), and Void (between matter, stars, and the unknown). There are five spells per school, and typically, a wizard or sorcerer knows the spells from one school, as well as the Universal school. Elves can inherently learn the spells from two rather the one school.

The background to Outlaws ‘N’ Owlbears is lightly drawn across both of its genre, the fantasy and the Wild West. For the Wild West there are notes on the physical nature of the frontier and how to survive it, the services available—mail and telegrams, riding, money and banks, and other services. There is a decent equipment list, including a handful of firearms. For the fantasy, there are plenty of other additions. This includes magical tattoos, permanent spells which can be woven onto the skin, for example, ‘Channelled Fury’ increases damage in combat by one and ‘Blood and Thunder’ grants temporary extra Hit Points. Only a few sample tattoos are given and they are all combat-focused. Each tattoo has three charges and even when the three charges are expended, the tattoo remains, but fresh ink can be applied and the charges restored. Unlike other Wild West settings, snake oil actually works, most like ‘Doc’s Poppy Water’ or ‘Granpappy’s Stand-Up Solution’, provide some form of healing. Permanent magical items might also be found, such as a ‘Night Watchman’s Spyglass’ which turns night into day or a Scalebane Rifle’, which inflicts extra damage against any creature with scales!

In addition, Outlaws ‘N’ Owlbears does include two other species playable as Player Characters. These are optional and powerful, requiring a Player Character to pay off a debt in terms of Experience Points before he can begin advancing like Player Characters of other Species can. The Beastman can be any one of any number of anthropomorphic animals and has the trait of Adaptability, which means he can rest to lower an attribute by one and then increase another attribute by one. The Revenant is one of the undead, who cannot stay undead, but keeps returning. A Revenant has the traits of his former Species and is attuned to one school of magic and becomes more like the elemental source of that school each time he resurrects! There is some interesting roleplaying to be had with this version of the Revenant. In comparison to the Revenant, the Beastman as a Species is underwritten though.

For the Game Master, there is short, but reasonable advice on running Outlaws ‘N’ Owlbears, in particular, noting that care should be taken with the darker historical elements of the Wild West and potentially offensive clichés should be avoided when portraying indigenous characters. There are some campaign and adventure ideas too, and there is an introductory scenario, ‘Canyon Springs Adventure’ to get a game started. The Player Characters arrive in the frontier town of Canyon Springs on the way to somewhere else and find it short of water and its townsfolk desperate. Their train needs water, so the source of the problem needs to be sorted out before they can continue on. It is a decent starter adventure and should provide a good session’s worth of play. The Game Master also has a decent bestiary too, drawn from the Wild West and its folklore, such as the Chupacabra and the Sasquatch, along with the Owlbear.

Physically, Outlaws ‘N’ Owlbears is slightly scrappily laid out and liberally illustrated. The artwork is variable in quality, the monsters and the inanimate objects better done than the figure work. It does need another edit in places.

Outlaws ‘N’ Owlbears is not Dungeons & Dragons and the Wild West, although the Owlbear does make an appearance and it has Dwarves, Elves, and Goblins. Rather it is more inventive than that, showing in the selection of spells and decently done bestiary. Where it feels underwritten is in the development of the setting, which is very lightly drawn, little more than the American frontier has this weirdness to it, plus mechanically, the roleplaying game is very combat focused. Perhaps a companion volume will address this, as well as provide more adventures. With its combination of genres, supported with simple, quick mechanics, Outlaws ‘N’ Owlbears is familiar and gritty, a slightly scrappily, if nicely done fantastical take upon the Wild West.

[Fanzine Focus XX] Gamma Zine #2

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 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. Published by ThrowiGames!, it came as a black and white booklet, packed with content, including adventures, equipment, monsters, and more. Published as part of Zine Quest 2, Gamma Zine #2 was published in February, 2020 and promised more of the same—adventures, equipment, monsters, fiction, and so on.

Where Gamma Zine #1 began with a short interview with James M. Ward, the designer of both Gamma World and its predecessor, Metamorphosis Alpha, Gamma Zine #2 starts with ‘An Interview with Luke Gygax’. This is not just because his father is E. Gary Gygax, but also because he is listed as the co-author of GW1 Legion of Gold, the very first scenario for Gamma World. What is interesting about the development of the module is that Luke Gygax was just nine or ten years old at the time the adventure was written. Thus we we read about his influence over the design of the module as well as the time he spent as a child with his father. Which adds a more personal touch to our views of the man who co-created Dungeons & Dragons and began the hobby.

‘New Horrors from the Wasteland’ provides two new monsters. One is the Chog, a canine creature which seems to adsorb radiation and expell it in its bite. The bad news for the Player Characters is that the stronger the intensity of the radiation it has adsorbed, the worse its bite! The other creature is the Dizard, a lizard-type known for its tenaciousness when attacking—it likes to get a grip and keep hold, forcing a Player Character to try and break that grip! Leather taken from the Dizard is also known to be sturdy and all but fire proof.

Gamma Zine #2 also continues adding something not found in Gamma World—a Class. Classes are not a feature of Gamma World, but ‘Class Option — The Wasteland Blacksmith’ shows how they could be added to added. Following on from Artificer from Gamma Zine #1, in Gamma Zine #2, this is the Wasteland Blacksmith who makes and repairs things from the wasteland junk, earning Experience Points for doing so, but does not gain as many Experience Points from mere combat. The rules are fairly basic, but it adds flavour and enables a player to add a skill and round out his character a bit more. ‘Artifacts of the Ancients’ in Gamma Zine #1 concentrated on weapons, but ‘Artifacts of the Ancients’ in Gamma Zine #2 focuses on tools and survival aids. So the Stimpack Drone is designed to be used to deliver doses of a healing agent by remote, but others have adapted it to deliver poisons and radiation and more! The Hop-Pack provides the wearer with short jumps, the collapsible axe is a handy tool, and the Survivor Armband is perfect for anyone wanting their Gamma World adventures to be a bit more like the computer game, Fallout!

Gamma Zine #2 comes with three adventures. The first is ‘Adventure #1 — The Millionaire’s Vault’ describes the vault where a millionaire from before the apocalypse hoarded his most valuable possessions. Unless the Player Characters are looking for the reputed  ‘Cure All’ said to be hidden in its depths, there is little reason for them to visit what is actually a converted missile silo. It is more of an adventure location and as an adventure location, would work well with ‘Adventure #2 — Paradise Island’. The island of the title is home to farmers and fishermen and is known to trade in foodstuffs, but when the Player Characters arrive they discover that the island has been attacked by pirates and their mercenary island. In comparison to ‘Adventure #1 — The Millionaire’s Vault’, and even though it is quite simple, there is a whole lot more plot in ‘Adventure #2 — Paradise Island’. The vault from ‘Adventure #1 — The Millionaire’s Vault’ could easily be moved onto Paradise Island, and ‘Adventure #2 — Paradise Island’ enlarged and expanded, perhaps to form a hexcrawl of its very own also using the three adventures in Gamma Zine #1. 

‘Adventure #3 — Rescue!’ likewise includes a bit more of a plot. It describes a pre-apocalypse, advanced detention facility and the idea in the scenario is that the Player Characters need to rescue someone held in one of its cells. It is quite detailed and should present a challenge to any Player Characters attempting to break or con their way into the facility. The map is a little cramped and difficult to read, and it does feel as it could have been better orientated on the page.

The issue also includes two pieces of fiction. The first is  ‘The Hunted, Chapter Two’ which picks up from the cliffhanger that ended in ‘The Hunted, Chapter One’. In the first part, Whyla and her faithful cybernetic hound, Arnold, were ambushed by bandits and this gives the payoff. Again it is nicely written and with the resolution of the first cliffhanger sets up another. Unfortunately, the other piece of fiction, though again decently written, is not just as engaging. ‘Opportunity of Lifetime, Prologue’ really sets everything up for the next part, detailing how a student is selected for an important scientific mission. Set before the apocalypse, not a great happens and at three pages in length, it is too long a read. Hopefully the next chapter provide a better payoff.

Lastly, Gamma Zine #2 gives the Game Master another ‘Artifact Use (Solution) Flowcharts’. The focus of this set is guns and ammunition. So there are flowcharts for identifying revolvers and semi-automatics, along with standard and advanced ammunition types. It splits ammunition types because they are easy to get mixed up. Of course, some groups will find them fiddly and annoying, but they are part of the mechanics to Gamma World, so having more of them is fun.

Physically, Gamma Zine #2 is neat and tidy. It is decently written and nicely illustrated with good art throughout. Each of the scenarios is accompanied by excellent maps.

If you enjoyed Gamma Zine #1, then the likelihood is that you will enjoy Gamma Zine #2. It provides excellent support for the first edition of Gamma World, as well as 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 not perfect though, there being a bit too much fiction and the adventures being more encounter locations than actual scenarios. This does not mean that they are not useful and the Referee can easily pick and choose how she uses the content. Certainly the adventures could be used to populate a hexcrawl of the Referee’s own devising. Overall, Gamma Zine #2 is continued solid support for Gamma World.