White Dwarf: Issue #49

Issue #49 of White Dwarf, with its cover by Angus McKie, is dated January 1984. Editor Ian Livingstone uses this (in)auspicious date to muse briefly about George Orwell's influential novel and the role RPGs might play in fending off Big Brother. He suggests that "role-playing games allow their players freedom of expression as no others have done before them." Even given the context in which he said it, the comment strikes me as naïve. Like Michael Moorcock, I'm not as certain as Livingstone that Big Brother would necessarily oppose the escapism of RPGs, since it might help to distract one from the shackles of everyday life under an oppressive regime. On the other hand, I suspect Livingstone didn't mean the comment seriously and so I won't dwell on it further here.

"Shuttle Scuttle" by Thomas M. Price is a great example of two things White Dwarf regularly published: scenarios involving two or more groups of players and scenarios with game stats for two or more different game systems. In this case, it's a science fiction adventure for two groups of Traveller, Space Opera, or Laserburn players. One group consists of terrorists who've hijacked a shuttle – and the pilot of the shuttle; the other are government representatives trying to deal with the situation. Each group is supposed to convene in a separate room, with the referee moving between them, in order to represent the inability of each side to know fully what the other is saying or doing. That's interesting enough, but even more interesting is that the shuttle pilot in the first group is actually antagonistic to the terrorists in his "group" and must work to aid the government representatives in the other group without endangering the lives of any hostages aboard the shuttle. It's a compelling set-up for an adventure and, having done similar things in other RPGs to some success, I'm intensely curious how well it'd work in this case.

"Open Box" begins with a review of Monster Manual II, which receives 7 out of 10 – an entirely fair rating, despite my own personal fondness for the book. Two new Fighting Fantasy books are also reviewed, Starship Traveller (9 out of 10) and City of Thieves (8 out of 10). As I happened, I owned both of these and thought very highly of them, particularly the former, since I have always been more of a science fiction fan than a fantasy one. Also reviewed are three Traveller products: Supplement 12 – Forms and Charts (2 out of 10), Supplement 13 – Veterans (3 out of 10), and Adventure 9 – Nomads of the World Ocean ( 9 out of 10). Although I think the scores of the two supplements are a little harsh, I can understand why they were rated so poorly. On the other hand, Nomads of the World Ocean is a true classic and wholly deserving of its high score. Finally, there are reviews of Mercenaries. Spies, and Private Eyes (4 out of 10) and The Adventure of the Jade Jaguar (3 out of 10). This is probably the most negative installment of "Open Box" I've seen in some time. I wonder if it represents a course correction from the more usually glowing reviews of past issues.

Dave Langford's "Critical Mass" features reviews of multiple fantasy and science fiction novels, most notably Michael Ende's The Neverending Story. I'm honestly quite surprised Langford enjoyed the book (though not without a few of his usual jabs). "Clay to Marble" by Chris Felton is an expansion of sorts to the rules for construction in the Dungeon Masters Guide. Felton fleshes out things like costs, man-weeks, maintenance, and mishaps. Articles like this are a godsend to referees who care deeply about their subject matter but an awful bore to those who could care less. That's not a knock against the article itself, which is well done, only a comment on just how hard it must have been to find content for publication in a gaming magazine that might appeal to a wide audience. 

"Runes in the Dungeon" by Dave Morris is a collection of variant rules for RuneQuest in which he presents "classes" for use with the game. These classes are fighters, magic-users, thieves, and witches and each includes special rules for generating ability scores and starting skills. The intent here is not so much to abandon RQ's traditional rules structure as to scaffold an occupation-based approach to creating a character. This is especially helpful, I'd imagine, to players accustomed to D&D's approach to character generation, as well as those who simply need the spark of creativity in creating a new character. I think it's a great little article. Meanwhile, "Rune Questions" by Oliver Dickinson is simply a collection of questions and answers about the rules of RuneQuest and the world of Glorantha.

"A Fleeting Encounter" by Andy Slack is a great Traveller article that offers advice on expanding the simpler starship rules of Book 2 so that the referee isn't required to delve into the complexities of the High Guard supplement. This is something of which I approve, since I always found High Guard too much of a muchness for my taste. We also get new strips for "Thrud the Barbarian," "The Travellers," and "Gobbledigook," with "The Travellers" being my favorite, of course. As I believe I've explained before, what makes "The Travellers" stand out for me is the way it amusingly presents what it's like to have played in a Traveller campaign in the 1980s, right down to the shameless ripping off of plots and situations from SF books, TV shows, and movies.

"The Key of Tirandor" by Mike Polling is the first part of a two-part AD&D adventure for characters of levels 6–9. What makes it especially notable is that the adventure – though the text calls it a "campaign" – takes place in its own unique setting, one that is low in magic and where there are no real gods (and thus no clerics), though peasants and the ignorant believe in their existence. The setting also has its own unique monsters, which are described at the end of this part of the adventure. It's very fascinating stuff and, from the vantage point of the present day, quite compelling, since I've lately found myself wishing more fantasy RPG settings were similarly original in their presentation.

"The Goblin Cult of Kernu" by Ian Bailey is a follow-up to his presentation of goblins for use with RuneQuest in issue #46. Here, as the article's title suggests, Bailey gives readers an example of a goblin cult for use in the game, along with sub-cults and a spirit associated with them. "Insect World" collects five new creepy crawlies for use with D&D or AD&D, while "Detect Illusion" does the same for new spells and magic items associated with the illusionist class. There's also a strangely uninteresting installment of "Super Mole," White Dwarf's games gossip column. Most of the rumors presented aren't at all intriguing, with the exception of the story of Will Niebling's attempt to exercise a stock option for 500 shares that was rejected by Brian Blume and might result in a lawsuit. I know nothing more about this supposed dispute, but I imagine it reflects the chaos and decline that characterized mid-1980s TSR.

Issue #49 is a very good issue and I greatly enjoyed its contents, as the length of this post attests. Next week, we reach the half-century mark in the history of White Dwarf and, if my middle-aged memory is correct, it's another pretty decent issue.