Fight On!

Just a quick link to the premier issue of the OD&D fanzine Fight On! for which I contributed a short adventure. I'm hopeful that this will be the start of something big and that the subtitle, "a fanzine for the old school renaissance," is prescient. I do think there is in fact a growing movement to go "back to the sources" of our hobby. This movement isn't just a reaction to the mechanical bloat of contemporary RPGs or the supplement treadmill or any of dozens of other things we gamers complain about. Rather, I think it's evidence of the maturing of the hobby and its fanbase.

Many of us second generation gamers are pushing or have reached 40 and we're probably at the tail end of that generation. The first generation of gamers are now, at their youngest, solidly in their 40s and many are much older. With age often comes the realization the simpler need not be less good than the more complex. Likewise, I think a lot of us once again appreciate that the do-it-yourself nature of the early hobby was one of its best features -- the very thing that drew us as kids into roleplaying in the first place.

Back then, there weren't any lavishly detailed settings or compendious explications of rules. When in doubt, we just made it up and we had a blast doing it. I miss those days ever more as I get older, especially as I watch my children draw closer to the age when I first discovered gaming. I think nowadays kids need the kind of creative hobbies that early gaming represented. There's not much like it anymore.

So, I have high hopes that Fight On! is the tip of the iceberg of some exciting stuff to come. Even if it's not, I intend to enjoy myself reading and writing for it.

Quick Note: The fanzine is only now available and it's possible that the print quality may yet still have some bugs in it. If you wish to purchase a copy, it might be wise to wait a week or so before doing so, just to ensure it's as it should be.