Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Different Worlds: Issue #20

Issue #20 of Different Worlds (March 1982) features a cover by Luise Perenne, an artist I will always associate with RuneQuest, because of the the many illustrations she provided for it. The cover depicts Zarzeena the Sorcereress casting a spell through her scrying stone. Zarzeena, also called La Bella Donna, plays an important role in Steve Perrin's "Zarzeena's World," a "bare-bones scenario" intended to present the setting of a novel by Luise Perenne from a roleplaying perspective. So far as I know the novel in question was never published. The scenario is indeed "bare-bones," since it's more of a sketch of various NPCs and their interactions than a structured adventure. 

Robin Wood's "Heraldry" is a lengthy, 10-page article, complete with examples, that explains the intricacies of European heraldry. I love articles like this, but then I'm a bit strange. On the other hand, Roby Ward's "Giving Birth" is not an article I love. It answers the question, "How should a GM determine whether or not a player-character has gotten herself pregnant?" Words fail me. 

Fortunately, "Race for the 'Specter'" by Doug Houseman is a very good Traveller adventure. It's 9 pages long (including a two-page map spread) and is intended to be competitive. A team of Zhodani characters is assaulting an Imperial research station during the Fifth Frontier War, opposed by an Imperial watch team. The scenario is very well done, with an interesting premise and well presented map, but I do wonder how practical it would be to run two groups at the same time. It's recommended that each group meet in a separate room, with the referee moving between them, something I've tried before but found unwieldy. Houseman also includes notes on "ghosting" the Zhodani, a term I've never heard before but which simply means that the referee runs them rather than a second set of players.

"How to Design Mythology" by David P. Joiner is a decent, if brief, overview of the questions a referee should consider when designing gods for use in his campaign setting. This issue's reviews are a good mix of products, starting with the excellent The Free City of Haven. Also reviewed are Against the Giants and The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, alongside The Iron Wind (for Rolemaster) and several Judges Guild Traveller releases (Tarlkin's Landing, Glimmerdrift Reaches, Crucis Margin). What's interesting is that all of these reviews are positive, in contrast to several previous issues. The issue also includes book reviews, first of The Ice Is Coming by Patricia Wrightson and the Othergates publishing guide. 

The penultimate content of the issue is a short article entitled "The Mimi" by Ernest Hogan, which describes fairy-like creatures of Aboriginal Australian legend. Like most articles of this kind in the pages of Different Worlds, it's completely without game mechanics. Meanwhile, Gigi D'Arn continues to dish the dirt on the buy-out of SPI, this time suggesting that it was TSR, not Avalon Hill, that was looking like the most likely buyer (correct, as it turns out). She also mentions an upcoming Star Trek movie called Unknown Continent and featuring Ricardo Montalban as one of its "guest actors." Never heard that title associated with Star Trek II before!

I continue to be unsure how to judge Different Worlds. Its content is so variable and uneven that, every time I think I can render a verdict on it, I read the next issue and re-assess my perspective. Perhaps that's a good thing ultimately, but I find it mildly frustrating nonetheless. Unlike Dragon or White Dwarf, I don't know what to make of Different Worlds and I suspect that I may never know.

12 comments:

  1. Content uneven and variable describes every gaming magazine there ever was. I felt the same way about The Dragon, WD, SA, and The Space Gamer.

    No magazine (no matter the subject material ) can be awesome every article, every issue for a given reader.

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    1. You're certainly correct. I suppose I simply notice it more in my old age than I would have in my youth.

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    2. Have to agree with JEFFB. Every mag has good and bad issues, and I don't think I'd rate DW as being uncommonly erratic in that regard. If anything it feels like the sheer variety of content means there's always something of interest, even if it may not be enough to justify the cover price all the time. And I definitely prefer the "varied content" approach to that of house organs like (say) the General or White Dwarf past the 80s - although I admit to buying both, as well as even more focused mags like Autoduel Quarterly and Interplay.

      Thinking back on it, Pyramid and Ares might have been the best mix of the two approaches for me. They were both consistent in largely dealing with their publishers' games but included enough extraneous content and reviews (back before the net made reviews easy to obtain) to feel like they offered more variety than they really did.

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  2. If you were unaware of it, Luise Perenne had some serious health issues and Steve started a Go Fund Me last year to help deal with the medical costs. I believe it's closed now but I'm sure they'd still welcome any contribution fans can offer.

    https://www.gofundme.com/f/care-for-the-phoenix

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  3. The "giving Birth" article sounds like exactly the kind of idiocy that helped keep the roleplaying hobby predominantly male for so long. If the internet is to be believed it appears to have provoked at least one response, too. Issue 24 had an article called "Pregnancy & Adventure" for AD&D, written by Colleen Bishop and illustrated by Luise Perenne. Perhaps it will be a more...nuanced look at the subject.

    I'm also reminded of the fact that Glorantha has several cults that offer rune magic which transfer birthing pains to the father, decreasing the odds of complications in childbirth. Still doesn't even things up for the other nine months or postpartum issues, but I imagine the chance of getting to go through labor encourages a bit less careless sex from horny Storm Bull cultists and the like.

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  4. While the content in Different Worlds is hit or miss, it's focus on other early RPGs and not just D&D made it a keeper for me. I never kept but a handful of Dragon Magazine issues (though I'm glad I bought the CDROM when it was available). Once it stopped publication and I had a complete collection, is warranted a permanent home, plus it only takes half a modest sized box (the other half filled with White Dwarf up through issue 80ish, though with holes).

    I actually don't use that much content from Different Worlds, but anytime I get an interest in something it covers, I read through the material which if nothing else makes the interest area feel alive again.

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  5. Gigi D. must have been using Google Translate. The first title of that film was "The Undiscovered Country." Studio execs forced a change, then two, to the title of that film, but director Nicholas Meyer finally got his way for the sixth film.

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    1. Google Translate released about 24 years after this issue went to press, so probably not. :)

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  6. Do you use the pregnancy rules in section 2600 of EPT? I haven’t seen mention of children in the House of Worms.

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    1. Believe it or not, I don't believe I ever noticed those rules before ...

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    2. EPT is great but its organization makes it easy to overlook things. At least, like the DMG, it provides surprises when one returns to it.

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  7. I just ordered this issue from Amazon. It has been over 30 years since I last owned it.

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