Tuesday 25 April 2017

Gygax Magazine #3

Gygax Magazine #3 was written by James Carpio, Stephen V. Cole, Michael Curtis, Jayson Elliot, Ben Gerber, Ernest Gary Gygax Jr, Jess Hartley, Timothy Kask, Brian A. Liberge, Ben McFarland, Jon Peterson, Benoist Poiré, James M. Ward, and Marc Zukerman. It was illustrated by Janet Aulisio, Clyde Caldwell, Pierre Carlès, John Dollar, Derek Fischer, Travis Hanson, Jim Holloway, Hanae Ko, Jeff Laubenstein, Charles Peale, and Michael Wilson. The publisher is TSR, Inc.

As with other discussions of "mixed bag" type products, my focus here is going to be on Dungeon Crawl Classics material.

Gygax Magazine produced a total of six issues before closing. Apparently, there was some trademark dispute over the name "Gygax". Originally, with Ernie and Luke Gygax on board, TSR was willing to fight to use the name, but their withdrawal changed things. Or I may have that completely wrong.

Let's Look Inside.

How do you stop a space amoeba?: A scenario for Federation Commander by Stephen V. Cole.

The dwarven rune priest: The only specifically Dungeon Crawl Classics content in the six existing issues, this is an alternate dwarf class written by James Carpio. This is actually a great class, and dwarven rune magic is both flavorful and unique. In some ways, it is reminiscent to Hiero Desteen drawing runes from his bag in Hiero's Journey. You can use 1d24 to represent drawing runes, or you can actually purchase (or make!) a set of divination runes to use in the game. I have had a player use this class in my home game, and it was fun.

The airlancer: A class for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons by Jayson Elliot.

16 Artifacts to impart ancient lore: This article, by Michael Curtis, describes five "unique relics that can grant valuable knowledge to player characters". Although not specific to Dungeon Crawl Classics, it is easily adapted.

Master Mariner: Naval rules for the Pirates constructable game by Timothy Kask.

Nuffle’s Academy: Creating a Blood Bowl team, by Marc Zukerman.

Argyle & Crew’s Scavenger Hunt: "A sock puppet RPG for kids at conventions, or anywhere". The author is Ben Gerber.

How to split up the party: "Need advice on social etiquette relating to games, movies, fan groups, conventions, or other geek-ful settings?" Jess Hartley provides the same. In this case, "What do you do when one of your players just isn’t working out?"

They all Died at the International Space Station: A Metamorphosis Alpha adventure by James M. Ward.

The Hobby Shop Dungeon: Jon Peterson provides a history of The Hobby Shop Dungeon and The Marmoreal Tomb going "all the way back to the early days in Lake Geneva".

The Marmoreal Tomb of Garn Pat’uul: Written by Ernest Gary Gygax Jr. and Benoist Poiré, this is the first level of The Hobby Shop Dungeon "for all first edition-compatible games". This may be of interest to Dungeon Crawl Classics aficionados, as the Marmoreal Tomb kickstarter reached its $70,000 stretch goal - A Dungeon Crawl Classics conversion document headed (or written) by Jen Brinkman!

Order of the Knights Incorporeal: For 13th Age, written by Brian A. Liberge.

Savage charms and monstrous fetishes: For Pathfinder, written by Ben McFarland.

Full Frontal Nerdity: Comic by Aaron Williams.

The Order of the Stick: Comic by Rich Burlew.

Get It Here!


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