tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post279063873140459067..comments2024-03-28T09:41:39.187-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: White Dwarf: Issue #68James Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-47197693132696166502023-03-23T06:29:28.515-04:002023-03-23T06:29:28.515-04:00I was about to comment on the anti-American/milita...I was about to comment on the anti-American/militarism sentiment of the 1980s in the UK, but Jacob72 has covered most of it.<br /><br />The "fantasy" of a devastated Europe is less attractive when Europe is on one's doorstep.thekelvingreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-25961372621497403462023-03-22T15:57:04.240-04:002023-03-22T15:57:04.240-04:00I agree with you on the supers rpg. We always play...I agree with you on the supers rpg. We always played Marvel with seven or eight and it was Avengers End Game thirty years early. I'd have preferred to play two players with a GM, maybe even one playing the supervillain and mooks.Jacob72https://www.blogger.com/profile/17268402292420473229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-24337188549100868112023-03-22T09:26:09.717-04:002023-03-22T09:26:09.717-04:00It's strange. I think the closer we edge towa...It's strange. I think the closer we edge toward the end of the world, the more popular apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic entertainment becomes at mass. In the '80s alone we had Road Warrior, Terminator, The Day After, and for the kiddies, Thundarr the Barbarian where "man's civilization in cast in ruin."<br /><br />It only makes sense that RPGs would follow with Aftermath, Car Wars, Twilight: 2000, et. al.Etrimynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12412524174369676893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-24296771050100633322023-03-22T08:23:10.723-04:002023-03-22T08:23:10.723-04:00"I give the article bonus points for referenc..."I give the article bonus points for referencing the 1960s anime, Marine Boy, which I strangely loved as a young child."<br /><br />Interesting. I was completely unaware of it in my childhood, and only managed to see some episodes for the first time two years ago on youtube. It's certainly an interesting artifact of its time, and stunningly violent by US cartoon standards, rivaled only by Jonny Quest.<br /><br />"'Solo Series' by Simon Burley looks at the ins and outs solo adventuring in a superhero RPG. It's a very good overview of this topic, one made all the better in my opinion due to the prevalence of lone heroes in the superhero genre."<br /><br />There's always been a disconnect between supers comics (where solo titles dominate) and supers RPGs (where team play is the norm). Some of the bigger games (V&V, Champions, Marvel FASERIP) have done some solo adventures but there's rarely any design work dedicated to running one-player or truly solo games in the core rules. Some systems work better for that type of play than others, but I can't think of any that aren't written with teams of 3+ players in mind.<br /><br />"Lone Dragon" by Phil Masters"<br /><br />Terrific adventure if your players are the military-minded types. Not so good if they prefer exploration, commerce, diplomacy or espionage - although there is a little room for the latter with some work. Dick McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14521293874696659063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-87654702819995004552023-03-22T07:40:59.285-04:002023-03-22T07:40:59.285-04:00Rowland's pan of Twilight: 2000 may seem strid...Rowland's pan of Twilight: 2000 may seem strident and preachy from a modern POV, but this was 1985. Reagan's brinkmanship over the "Star Wars" SDI and military adventurism in general had a large chunk of the world (not just Europe and definitely including the US) looking at the specter of nuclear war more seriously than any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis. There was an alarming amount of talk about "winnable" nuclear war coming from pedants and the Pentagon alike, and Reagan was hell-bent on destroying the USSR. As it turned out he accomplished it (slightly delayed from his presidency, but still his doing) through economic rather than military means, but I don't doubt for a moment he'd have taken any decent excuse to fight a war with them consequences be damned. The Soviets were terrified of US maneuverings in a way they hadn't been since Nixon and his "drunken madman strategy" on the hotline. And here we are decades later with Putin playing on those old, half-remembered fears to keep his deathgrip on power with the older parts of his population. <br /><br />I found Twilight:2000 deeply unappealing as a teenager, and I don't like it any better now with Putin becoming more of a trapped rat with every day. Absolutely understand where Rowland was coming from.Dick McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14521293874696659063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-40733759216028565832023-03-22T07:26:57.070-04:002023-03-22T07:26:57.070-04:00I can't hazard a guess how accurate the estima...I can't hazard a guess how accurate the estimate of 100K readers is nor do I see a circulation count online (the two are often very different numbers, espcially when using feedback surveys as a guide for reader count), but Dragon magazine has a listed circulation of 107,200 copies in 1985, down from the all-time high of 118,021 in 1984 - assuming EN World can be trusted.<br /><br />https://www.enworld.org/threads/dragon-magazine-circulation.222703/Dick McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14521293874696659063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-71888857575631831622023-03-21T18:42:31.026-04:002023-03-21T18:42:31.026-04:00A realistic game of nuclear war as the reviewer wa...A realistic game of nuclear war as the reviewer wants would mean few survivors and those wracked by radiation sickness to the point of near death. That game would be lame to play. I think the review is coming from a political place rather than judging the game play.<br /><br />If you want to complain about Twilight 2000 start with how complicated it was. Not as bad as Aftermath but pretty close if I remember correctly.Ruprechthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00139664977453444000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-88557271503903307562023-03-21T16:53:04.348-04:002023-03-21T16:53:04.348-04:00I will reproduce it here (very slightly abbreviate...I will reproduce it here (very slightly abbreviated), because I think it explains itself quite cogently: <br /><br />"While the system is playable, the moral stance and attitudes it exemplifies are fairly loathsome. The rules favour the style of behaviour found in 'fun' war films; player characters will occasionally get killed (but not terribly often)... There are rules for infection and radiation poisoning, but they aren't nearly harsh enough. <br /><br />The setting, two years after the last nuclear weapon was used, has evidently been designed to avoid showing the worst effects of the bomb; the random encounters don't include civilians suffering from third degree radiation burns, blind children, and the hideously dead and dying victims of blast and heat. Starvation and plague are occasionally mentioned, with the implication that characters can always use their weapons to get food and medicines. <br /><br />The war described is the favourite American scenario, slow escalation with most of the damage confined to [not the US]. [...] America is in the sort of anarchic state loved by survivalists. The environment left after this holocaust doesn't seem much harsher than Vietnam or the Congo. The 'Nuclear Winter' predicted by many scientists either didn't occur, or just made the normal winter slightly harsher than usual. In the year 2000, Europe is split into tiny cantonments ruled by rival warlords, some Russian and some American. No centralised governments remain. <br /><br />Against this background, the players are supposed to choose goals; survival is the obvious priority, but further objectives are left to the discretion of the referee and players. The suggested theme (which beautifully explains the attitude of this game) is to 'return home' to America: Europe evidently isn't worth anyone's time or effort. The rules never say anything about the possibility of rebuilding settlements, negotiating local peace treaties, or doing anything else to start civilization working again. <br /><br />The box blurb says 'They were sent to save Europe. . . Now they're fighting to save themselves', and it's evident that this game has been written by and for Americans, with little or no understanding of European attitudes or desires to sustain interest." <br /><br />I must admit when I read Twilight 2000 a few years ago I had perilously close to zero interest in it, and I'm only Canadian rather than European. American fantasies don't necessarily sell well to non-Americans. Simulated Knavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220636533241212000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-75951528503248722512023-03-21T16:24:28.145-04:002023-03-21T16:24:28.145-04:00As we'll see in the upcoming Price of Freedom ...As we'll see in the upcoming Price of Freedom review, European reviewers had very different views at the time about what was acceptable in an RPG.Sir Harrokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11064391207365006286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-37135898047544767382023-03-21T16:06:10.964-04:002023-03-21T16:06:10.964-04:00Thanks, Jacob72; that's very helpful informati...Thanks, Jacob72; that's very helpful information.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-4528369233032469872023-03-21T15:35:22.920-04:002023-03-21T15:35:22.920-04:00I concur that Twighlight:2000 wasn't that attr...I concur that Twighlight:2000 wasn't that attractive to my group in 1985. As much as we had an interest in Commando, Victor & Warlord comics, the idea of a game based around WW3 in Europe was a bit too close to the bone for us. At the time of the review there was a sizeable mass of voters who wanted US nuclear weapons (cruise missiles) out of the UK, membership of CND was high and there were regular protests outside US airbases, with many women being arrested.<br /><br />So that context contributes to a 5/10 review.Jacob72https://www.blogger.com/profile/17268402292420473229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-90019024821319127562023-03-21T14:36:37.391-04:002023-03-21T14:36:37.391-04:00If I were to guess, I suspect the difference betwe...If I were to guess, I suspect the difference between 1985 and 2020 is time and distance. I can't say for certain, but I imagine many Europeans in the mid-80s were understandably a bit more twitchy about the prospects of a nuclear war with the USSR, even a limited one, than were many Americans of the same era. That's just a guess, though.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-24878500116314448302023-03-21T13:37:05.882-04:002023-03-21T13:37:05.882-04:00Regarding Twilight: 2000 and Roland's critique...Regarding Twilight: 2000 and Roland's critique, "one written for and by Americans, with little or no understanding of European attitudes or desires." That is just fascinating to me (a Gen X guy from the US). I wonder how prevalent that attitude was in both the UK and Europe in general in 1985? <br /><br />Clearly Free League Publishing had no problem with the idea in the 2020s. <br /><br />Cominiushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10621853755641258314noreply@blogger.com