Volume 1, No. 1 Summer, 1981 = >r FIRST Te ou Fated. devel. (Comite Woll, thisisit.. he premierissue of the RPGA™ newsletter. We tried to produce ‘@ magazine of high quality, containing information YOU want. To keep it that way — COMMUNICATE! Let us know what you think, ang what you want. RPGA NEWS Volume I, Number 1 Summer, 1981 Publisher: E, Gary Gygax Editor: Frank Mentzer Contributing Editors: Bill Hoyer Tom Robertson Contributing Artists Bell Darlene Jeff Dee Dave LaForce Erol Otus Playing Gamo Assocation’, a svelon ot TSA Hobbies ine The mailing address = PO 2 Uske Geneve, 183147: tlephone number 41) pan aes RPGA NEWS welcomes unsatciteceubmiesons Sponsisity Yor such submiesiong can be a ions wil be returned unless aceompanved By & Seli-addrossoa stamped envelope of sufitant RPA NEWS io malls ree 0a! APGA mom. Bors Mambership ates year $102 yen $18 ‘ears S40 feline $20, Aipricen are scbaet te-etange winout note, ‘material publened in RPGA NEWS becomes the axclusive property of the publisher upon bublcation, unless spcialwittenarrangemons forte contrary are mace prior 10 Bublicaton RPGR i 8 trademark oomed by TSA Hobles ao rovers, ans nothing may be reproducegin Whole or pan without sacuting prior water permission rom thepublisher ® 1961 TSR Hob CONTENTS. SPECIAL interview with E. Gary Gygax Volume I, No. 1 Part 1 of this interview, and the boginning of a Series s+ ++seeeeeeeeee A FEATURES ‘The Fastest Guns That Never Lived ‘A BOOT HILL™ Article by Brian Blume et al The FIGHT IN THE SKIES™ Game A synopsis by Mike Carr. An Open Letter. TOP SECRET™ notes from Merlo Rasmussen Gen Con® South Report ....+.. ++. GAMMA WORLD™ Science Fantasy ‘Some ideas from Jim Ward... 6. ++ REGULARS erence te osle Dispel Confusion AD&D” Q8A by The Game Wizards Notes For the Dungeon Master Fantasy role playing ideas ROCKSNOZ in the Land of Nidd A fantasy campaign cartoon from Tom Wham +10 +16 DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, DAO na ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS a gama aerate cane TEM Motes, he LETTERS This issue, there were no letters to the editor. Not surprising, there's sure to be lotsnoxt time, Do youhavesomething to say? Write to “NEWSLETTER, POB 503, Lake Geneva, Wi 53147 Soas not to leave you completely dis- appointed, we've gathered a few incom- ing comments plus one letter from the DRAGON" fies: “Atlast a role player's gaming organiza tion! The time hias come for ane, and noone ismorequalifies tocarry outa program on such a large scale as TSR." — ME Lam sincorely thrilled with the idea of the RPGA. Your newsletter sounds ‘better than astack of dragon steaks" —s¢ “Your offer of an RPGA Membership along with a subscription to DRAG- ON magazine's too much to pass up. th ‘This is a change in the AD&D” rules that I have made for my own pur- poses, and one that not many people have thought about. It seems that ar- mour class would be gradually lo- ‘wered as a character's [evel builds. | havea 17th level Elven Fighter/Magic- User, and it seems that a character of his power would have gained an ad- vanced AG lower than 2 “AS a character progresses, he gains ‘experience in dodging or fending off blows that is not covered in dexterity adjustments, and experience in mov- ing or weaving through attackers so that blows glance off his armour, | suggesta 6 reduction in AG per level 2 lors aed over ter Maarten by TSA Hoobs. he Therefore, every two levels that char- acter will drop one AG notch.” - DB, Montgomery, AL First ofall, the RPGA attitude towards alterations and variants of the AD&D ‘game is: don't. For international tourna- ment stability (see the EGG interview), we must go by the official published ules, monsters and game system as produced by TSR. It's a solid reference, at loast. This is NOT to say that there are 1no holes in the system; there certainly However, there's no harm in discuss ing changes: as Gary pointed out, if enough of us feo! that a change should >be made, it will be given “a fot of weight in the final decisions. This letter presents a reasonable variation, and contains val- id points, Ifyou would like to try something tke this, we suggest a 25 (1) rather than 5 (2) adjustment por level, or less. Don't give any benelits until @ full point or ‘more is acquired. And remember that hit points go up each level, and reflect this ‘ability to dodge blows and so forth. The more hit points a character has, themore blows he or she can take and survive: this is roughly equivalent to dodging and weaving so as to take only “glancing’ bows. The obviously variant fevel ofthe elfin question merits no discussion, but in- spires some questions: Since elves cant bbe raised trom the dead, does this char= acter possess innate invulnerability? And if youcan get that high as an el, why be human? Ah, well, fo each his awn: we go by the book.Summer, 1981 DISPEL CONFUSION ards by The Game Wi ‘The complexities of any elaborate game system are a challenge to playors and game designers alike. Situations often arise in play that are not clearly ‘cefined by the rules, and game masters must interpret as best they can. The AD&D™ system Is no exception: but maybe we can do something about it We have consulted the Game Wizaras for the answers to a few of the most commonly asked questions about the AD&D system. The key individuals in these replies are Lawrence Schick, se: ‘ior designer at TSR Games and author of the AD&D Dungeon Module $2: White Plume Mountain, Dave Cook, TSR De- signer and author of AD&D Dungeon Module AT: Slave Pits of the Undercity. ‘and Harald Johnson, Supervisor of De sign for TSR and co-author of AD&D Dungeon Module Ci: Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, These are only examples of the many projects each of them has been involved with; we feel that they are emi: nently qualified for giving official answers to our questions. Yes, indeed; these are the Official Answers, and may be used and quoted as extensively as the rules in the hard- back ADAD books. Please send all questions about rules for TSR's role playing games to AD&D ‘questions (or whichever game you wish), care of this newsletter. : What is the relationship between IN- TELLIGENCE TABLE Ij (ChancetoKnow Spelis) in the Players Handbook and the ACQUISITION OF MAGIC-USERSPELLS. section in the Dungeon Masters Guide? Aren't these contradictory? A: Not at all — each has a different pur- pose. Here's how the system works: 2 new istlevel magic-user receives a Spell Book containing 4 spells (as per the ACQUISITION section). As the magic User adventures, he/she will probably have the opportunity to gain more spells t0 copy into his/her Spell Book. either from scrolls or other mages’ Books. As he/she comes across each heretotare- unseen spell, the magic-user must make a percentage dice roll to see i he/she ‘an ever understand that spell to memo- rizeit (using INTELLIGENCE TABLE I). I he/she falls, he's out of luck on that particular spell. The Maximum Number 0 Spells/Level column shows how many spells of each spell level a magic-user ‘an possibly understand with his or her intelligence score. The Minimum Number column shows the least number he/she ‘can understand, If, through bad luck, a magic-user rolis below the number needed for comprehension on so many spells that he/she can understand less. than the minimum indicated, he/she ‘should reroll for the failed spells until the minimum is achieved for that spell level Conversely, if more than the maximum fre understood, the excess (at the play- ers choice) must be dropped. eats (Q: What does the armor class and dam: age for humanoid monsters mean? Is this the armor class of that creature re- gardlass of armor worn (or not)? Is the ‘damage listed doneby the creaturewhen it fights without weapons? ‘A: The armor class listed for humanoids is the typical type of armor worn by that ‘monster-Itis possible for that creature to have a better armor class when wearing better types of armor or a worse armor class when wearing types of armor that give less protection. Humanoids without armor will probably have an armor class inthe areaat 10t08; the final decision is 3 TO left to the DM, and he or she may use whatever is desired. The damage listed for humanoid monsters is the average ‘amount of damage that creature will doit the DM does not want to figure the wea- pon carried by each creature. The dam- age listed is not done by such creatures. when unarmed, unless they are armed. with some type of natural weapons (claws, fangs, ete ). This applies to gob: Tins, Kebolds, habgablins, orcs, bug- beats, dwarves, elves, gnolls, gnomes, halflings, and troglodytes. —oc Q: Can paladins become Lycanthropes? ‘Aro they immune to aff disease? A: Paladins are indeed immune to all forms of disease. Unfortunately for them, Lycanthropy is as much a curse as itisa disease, The DMG uses an example of a paladin contracting lycanthropy and also Mentions cure disease and remove curse as ways of eliminating it Hy Q: There seem to be contradictions be- tween what is stated in the DMG and the Players Handbook concerning theweight of magical armor. Which is correct? A; Magical armor weighs half normal farmor weight, but for game purposes it has no encumbrance, Therefore, when determining the amount ot weight which can be carried, the magical armors weight must be subtracted from the to tal, However, itis not a factor when de- termining rate of movement. Magical armored characters will have the base movement speed of an unarmored man Which is then adjusted by the encum- brance of gear and treasure excluding magical armor worn, =H)NAME RPGA INTERVIEW with Elrmest) Gary Gygax is a graying, slightly portly gentleman with very thick glasses. He has achioved Tap Executive Status of a mult-milion dollar corpora: tion of his own creation while stil in his forties, and has put in many 30-hour days during its formation. To appearan: es, he could be anything -a shoemaker, an insurance underwriter, a business: rman... In fact, he has been each of these things. He has a long and varied history ‘of employment, interwoven with an ex. tensive record of hobby gaming in all its shapes and sizes. Gary is hard to get a hold on. One minute hell be the archtypical Senior Executive; the next, a fanatical gamer executing a military coup. He occasion: ally gots tired of the business routine and dumps everyting (unless of critical im: portance) 10 preserve his own peace of mind in any of a variety of ways: repeat- edly shooting for a wastepaper basket acrass the room until he's banked itn. debating a very minor point of rules into absurdity or extinction... suddenly al- Tecting a complete change of attitude about someone - only to unexpoctedly revert to normal later. In short, Neutral Good with Chaatic tendencies. Gary shard to get.aholdof, too. When- ever he ventures out of his office in the ‘main headquarters of TSR Hobbies in Lake Geneva, a crowd of employees some executives, most not- gather in his vicinity and dribble aff behind him en masse, some hoping fo get a quick solu- tion to problems and others just seeking his opinions, He rapidly disappears into hnis own domain, however, often leaving hopefuls in his wake stil laughing over somo bon mot he has cast offas asmoke screen for his retreat. He still works too hhard, steering the now large cosporation through the world of madern business. Gary relaxes at his home in Wisconsin with his wife, one son, two daughters, anda large assortment of dogs and cats, Volume I, No. 1 E. GARY GYGAX His eldest son Ernie drops in regularly, 5 dows his oldest daughter Elise (both of whom work for TSR). The Gygax home isnot huge but fs secluded. sts location is nol advertised, as many people have sought his time, advice, and attention since he became well-known as the crea- for of the Dungeons & Dragons® game. When asked for an article for the first RPGA Newsletter, Gary indicated that he was far too busy - as indeed he is - to produce anything. He did seem willing, however, to be interviewed if time could be found. And 80, one murky morning with tape recorder running, we managed focatch Gary in the right mood and with alittle time. Thereby came this artiole;in Tact, a whole interview series fs planned, 10 be found in upcoming issues. After editing, trimming, and smoothing the re- sults, we proudly present this profile of E. Gary Gygax, President of TSR Hob- bias, Inc. EGG: Good morning. What can | do for you, sir? RPGA: Well, | have a few questions for you, sir, representing the RPGA members and their upcoming newsletter. This is to be an arti- cle for our first newsletter, whic willalso contain articles by most of TSR's best game designers, The first question is, almost of necessity, the much misused, much rumored "How did the D&O” game get started? EGG: How we started selling it, you RPGA: Well, how was it created? And why? EGG: Thoprogenitor of the Dungeons & Dragons gamewas simply the fantasy componentof the Chain ‘mail game published in 1971 by Guidon Games, Those familiar with the rules for that particular thing will noticethat heroes have four hit dice, superheroes have eight hit dice, magic-users can 103s fireballs; there are various colors of dragons mentioned, ‘orcs, giants, etc. I's all pretty closely tied to what you see lat- er onin the original D&D game. Many of the spells, in fact, and so on are all tied to the system thatwas built into the Dungeons & Dragons game. We played miniatures games; the fellows enjoyed the fantasy so much that about 1970 we began to play a fot of them After Guidon published Ghain- mail, and that became one ofits most popular sellers -and what with all of the questions pertain~ ing to fantasy - it became ap- parent that there was a larger element of people interested in fantasy than we had thought (0 | began working on what | initialy thought of as a supple- ment to Chainmail, and itever tually grew into its own game. You may notice that the early Dungeons & Dragons game wes still kind of neither fish nor tow, ‘and referred the readerto Chair ‘maitallthe time. For the first six ‘months after publishing the orig- inal Dungeons & Dragons game, we thought of the game as 90° ing only to those people wno played miniatures. That's why the game was put togetter as it was, making a fot of assump- tions. It was not what people said - incomprehensible; they were not miniatures players. Any miniatures player could pick it up and know how to handle it, easily You mentioned, a few times, “we” and “the fellows,” and so forth. Who are you really refer- ring to? EGG: Atthetimethat ey - Chainmail ‘and then the original D&D game were written, we had an active group of game players called "The Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association’ whase membership included JeffPerren, Lee Tucker, Mike Reese, myselt of course, Rob and Terry Kuntz, and Don Kaye. Those were the active people in it We had a few otn- fers. It grew: it grew amazingly by 73. We had perhaps twenty ‘orthirty other people at various. times: RPGA:Summer, 1981 EGG: When the D&D phenomenon first started, of course, there were just a few players, We've been explaining to people how the first set was for hard-core gamors, and then the audience became more widespread. The version written by John Eric Holmes was a little bit easier, and now the latest version is easily understandable by anyone willing justo spend the time 10 readit. You've made thetermsa little blander, and have been Getting rid of a lot of the ga- mese; in general, improving it forthe mass market. Do you like what has happened to the D&D. game? I'm sure you like the wi despread publicity and the ap- proval it has received, but do you like the directions it has taken? (chuckles) If understand right: Vm not really too fond of the way Dungeons & Dragonsgames havekindofmutatedandchanged into very strange exercises, But who can say "nay" to someone who's having a good time with the game? One of the reasons that | was able to throw myself into the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons® project with such vi- or, and put in so many hours and turn it out as quickly as | ‘could, is that | felt that a game was needed that would have more control over its audience, and one that was not so open- ended and one that was going tohave more uniformity of play, and yet retain the sense of wonder and imagination and Creativity that the Dungeons & Dragons'system, asagame form, had produced. So | have high hopes for Advanced D&D™ games. inthat respect. Unfortunately, it seems as if they're stil being perverted, although not as bad v \ believe that the RPGA inlu- ence is going to help to raisathe level of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons play by forcing a litte more conformity. | don't mind reativity, |-don't mind muta tion, iit brings out better game play, and superior gaming in Soneral, But rom everything that ican se, all the changes that are made are usually foolish ang meant to either baby play. ers along or kill them off, one way or another. They're destruc tivo, rather than creative Just think about some of the outstanding changes that were made in Dungeons & Dragons s,and Advanced Dungoons jans games too, for that matter. and look at what their eifects are. Consider the “dou- le damage on a natural 20 which of course seldom went to the monsters, but only wont to the players, therefore making it yet easter forthe players to kil monsters Critical hits? Again, players never tookeritcal hits, only on sters, for some reason, would take critical hits. The weapons expertise idea, that a player's chosen weapon... heorshewould 40 2 lot better with it. And yet monsters fighting with theirnat ural abilities, fang and claw - who could be more expert than a tiger with ts claws and teeth? weren't gelting any bonuses, The spell point system, which allowed magic-usersto become veritable machine guns ot spells withoutever having to seriously consider what they were going RPGA THIS to take and just shoot eve thing down, made the ma user the only character worth playing Some of the proposed such asthe barbarian I've near of and the mighty knight, ang ‘one or two others that I've heard of, create super-powerful char acters who just can... again, it was the only one worth being Then you just go through and beat up on everything. The changes in the demi-human ra- cescreate, again, super-powerful characters, so that everybody ‘wants to bea dwar, or anelt, oF whatever tis, and nobody wants to be anything else, because it overbalances in favor. And gen- erally these are done at the whim of a Dungeon Master, or from group pressure, to make a rather uninteresting campaign where everybody is one thing. These are usually the Monty Haul games On the other hand, y the really silly monsters, or sure death traps for the OM who sadistic and ed to kill all of his players regularly, in ca: jous ways, without giving them any chance whatsoever That's also guaranteed ta spoil a game is attempted, at least should someone introduce a new monster. anewmagic item, and s0 forth, to be sure of game balance?NEWSLETTER Volume I, No. 1 EGG: Compareittowhat'sthere. There ANYTHING? The game is rea Monks are intriguing in that they sa monster rating system; it's sonably well-balanced, as it offer all sorts of promise if you fairly easy, and i's given in the stands right now: so that if you ‘can get them up near the top. DMG. Just write up the points fadd in a new character class, it Bur if he DM plays it properly. for the monster - and be fair - shouldbe within the general para- it's going to be so hard to geta and then look atwhat itis, com- ‘meters of the other characters, monk up to beyond tenth level pared to the other monsters, and have some useful purpose. that it might mean - DESPAIR. and use it. For example, some- Obviously, rangershavea use- So, and even so, the Grand- fone was talking about a dragon ful purpose; they're basically an father of Assassins or the Grand that changed hues, and as you outdoor character, like a druid Master of Flowers in the monk were fighting it, one moment it is, although both work well in a class -ora23rd level Bard- or Would be red, and another it dungeon. A paladin is specifi- 20th level magician or wizard-~is might turn to blue, and then vi cally aimed at fighting all the Certainly tough, but t’s very hard olet.. a spectrum dragon, or a ‘bad guys, and the undead, The to get there, and by that time rainbow dragon, or a scintillat- cleric is there to both fight and there's probably one or two other ing dragon, something lke that hheal. A magic-user is there to characters to contest that indi- Well, this would be just a hor- use some powerful spelis to get vidual’s supremacy with rendous monster, assuming it the group through the tough in the game. And of course could use each of those powers times; the fighters are there to anybody who properly DMs a reath weapons) three times bear the brunt ofall the action, campaign long enough to get or even ifitcould only use them The thieves are to act as, kind somebody up to that level has once! Particularly if yougot into of, scouts, and second-story men, certainly put in enough creative some of those shades... obvious and deliver some nifty behind work tohave challenges, and so ly, you can't throw itagainst an- the back blows, and so forth. forth, commensurate with the ything except super-powerful Illusionists are a type of magic: level of players Characters, The problem with User, meant really to probably RPGA: Skipping over to.a wider field ot characters is that... how many best! combat the more stupid gaming, the Gen Con® conven new monsters can you dream monsters, orhumans. Bardsare tion started “way back when’ up, and how many new chal: aninteresting exercise for those ‘Were you there at the concep. lenges can be dreamed up to people dedicated toa long-term tion, and the first ones? handle @ thirty-second level projectinanongoingcampaign, EGG: Well, whathappened is that the‘Summer, 1981 PGA: EGG: year before the Gen Con con- \ention started, | invited number of fellows up to my place in Lake Geneva for a gaming ses- sion, and as | recall, about a do- zen showed up. We played Ava- fonHill games, and some minia- tures, and so forth. | still have pictures! One of the original fel- lows there who's stillin gaming, actively, is Bill Hoyer. A lot of the others have either dis- appeared or dropped out, at least, from the active ranks, but Bill and | also belonged to a group called the IFW (Interna tional Feseration of Wargamers) and was one ofitsofficers, and Bill was eventually president in acoupleot years, | suggestedto Bill Speer and Scott Duncan, who were president and vice- president -| don't know, maybe | was vice-president and Bil was secretary - but anyway, | said "We ought to have an [FW Convention”. Andthey sala, “Hey that sounds like 2 great idea! You're itt” So | put the first Gen Con event together,and wehelditin Horticultural Hall and hag about a total attendance of about fifty or sixty hard-core gamers, who ‘came from all over the country. Wehada Canadian ortwo there, we had some people from out fon the west coast, from the east Coast, from Texas... There just weren't too many of us that were aware of each other then, at least. There were probably more out there, but it was hard togetto them. We did havea lot of walk-throughs, even the first year; the total different people there - I think there was some- thing over 150 at the first Gen Con convention that was run at Horticultural Hall, here in beau- tiful Lake Geneva Is sure grown since then. Do you like the way the Gen Con Scene has gone” Therearemam- ‘moth, incredible problems in- volved these days in handling the thousands of people who show up for the various games. I's all right, We had incredible problemshandling the fifty poo- RPGA: EGe: RPGA: EGG: ple that wore there theffirstyear, $0 we just have more people to deal with. | ran the first one all by myself, virtually, with some people to help me set up. Itwas one-day show. and | was there the day before and theday after, first setting up anc then taking down and cleaning up. From a ppersonal standpoint | don't like the large ones as well, because you can't possibly know all the People there, and a lot of the fgeling of comraderie is gone. the closeness, the general tenor Of things has changed consid- erably. On the other hang, it does give a chance for many, many more people tocome and see what gaming is all about, get into things, take look atthe fnew projects that the compan- Jes have produced, and meet their friends, I still se@ a lot of the old timers there, and say "hi" to them. It gives a better exposure to the hobby; in that regard it's great. It allows more competi- tive gaming; you ean have 600- ‘man tournaments, 600-man tour- naments...thatis marvelous. So | think the big convention is a very good thing, andit's here to stay. That's why we also run the three small conventions every year, 100. And these are more like the old-time Gen Conevents = such as the Spring Revel we just had here - because there you recognize the people, and ‘an sit down and talk with them, It's nota mob scene; things are alitechaotic-some ofthe games don't come off like they should hhave, or you go change and play ina different room. or play something different ~ but it's fun, and everybody has a good time, and that's what the small convention's all. about, Doesn't TSR make piles of mon- ey off of every Gen Con conven tion, though? Ho ho ho, BOY oh boy, do we LOSE piles of money at every Gen Con convention! Then why? Asa service to the hobby! We're sill basically... this is a com- pany run by people who like ‘games. Most of the people here are gamers. Wehave some peo- ple who don't play games. we have professionals, and we're becoming very professional in the way we co business, and we re looking to be profession al, too. But first of all i's a ser- vice. Secondly, ithelps promote the hobby. So'i’s promotion, | ‘guess, and we're doing itnow: it 7 WILL the game players dicn't like it andnever came, then we would drop it gladly, because it costs usa lot of money to put it on, But we do it now because it's expected of us, and we don't wantto letanybody down. Itisa good chance for publicity, as far as the news media are con- cerned, and it's good exposure for new, would-be game hobby- ists, RPGA: The Gen Con event is known as the longest continually running game convention around. Is it the biggest? EGG: Well, itis absolutely the first of the gaming conventions start- ed. There are older conventions, but they were for figure collec- tors, and things like that. We're the graddaddy of conventions, Sometimes Gen Con has been bigger than Origins, and at oth: er times it hasnt been as big. | don'tthink bigis necessarily ihe measure of how successtul a convention is. Really, if people like it and come back, it's suc- cessful, it's got twenty people there or twenty thousand peo- ple there. We certainly have a lot of events going, and 2 lot of dealers, andit'sa good conven- tion. (Testly)! don’t think much more can be said on that sub- ject. RPGA: Fool like a short break? EGG: Yeah Due to lack of space, the short break must become a long one. Watch for the conclusion of this interview next issue, when Gary talks about (among other things) his own favorite games, the D&D movie, and the future of the D&D phenomenon,WIN THE FASTEST GUNS THAT NEVER LIVED Volume |, No. 1 by Brian Blume, with Allen Hammack, Gary Gygax, and Tim Kask This article is a revision of reprints from "The Fastest Guns That Never Lived" articles which nave appeared in the DRAGON" magazine. Since many of the first articles (and the most famous stars) appeared in issues of STRATEGIC REVIEW and DRAGON magazines that are out of print, it seems logical to revise them so that new readers and players of the revised BOOT HILL" wild west game. could enjoy them. It must be stressed that these “guns” are far stronger than most player characters, and will unbal- ance the game unless caution is exer- ‘cise, but special scenarios using one or two of them might be enjoyable Movies and television have given us some of the greatest gunslingers of all time. Their abilities are far superior to those of any gunfighter who really lived, (0r50 it seems from the old shows. Some of those heroes and villains are present- ed here for the benefit of those who would ike to see what they coulddo. The ratings correspond to terms of the BOOT HILL wild west role playing game, pub- lished by TSR Hobbies, Inc. and its game rules for gunfights with counters. ‘miniature figures. The Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore) is probably the premierheroaf the western sagas, dating back to the days of radio, adventures. Together with Tonto (Jay Silverheels), his faithtul Indian compan: jon, they were a match forany bad men. The Rifleman was played by Chuck Connors on TV in the early sixties. De- duct 10 from his chance to hit when he uses any weapon but a rifle ‘Matt Dillon, the Marshal of Dodge City on""Gunsmoke", was portrayed by Willi- am Conrad on radio and James Arness on television, Paladin (Richard Boone) was the fin: est example of the paid gunman. His card read "Have Gun, Will Travel which was also the name of the show. Josh Randall was played by Steve on Wanted: Dead or Alive". Josh was the perfect bounty hunter; he carries a spe- Cial handgun which has the effect of a single-action revolver, except that it is very fast” and hasa range that is 2" (or2 spaces) fonger in all categories, Hopatong Cassidy (William Boyd) was one of the early TV heroes of the tities Hoppy" was the two-gunned champion of justice Yancy Derringer (Jack Mahoney) and Pahoo, his Indian sidekick, wore atough pair. Yancy has a Gambler Rating of 14 Johnny Yuma was played by Nick ‘Adams on'"The Rebel”, a TV series ofthe early six The Cisco Kid (Duncan Renaldo} and Pancho (Lee Carrillo) wisecracked their ‘way across the television screens of the late fifties and early sixties. "The Cisco Kid” is stil in syndication in some areas. Bert, Bart, and Beau Maverick were played by James Garner, Jack Kelly, ané Roger Moore (respectively) in one ot the most popular and well-written television shows ever produced. The “tall, dark strangers’ all have Gambler Ratings of 02, and they all prefer talking their way out of trouble to shooting; they will however, support their friends to the end Will (Walter Brennan) anc Jeff Sonnet were grandfather and grandson, looking fora missing gunslinger, who was Will's son and Jeff's father, of “The Guns of Will Sonnet”. Will claimad the prodigal sonwas the third fastest gun in the West He's good, but Jeff's better... and I'm better than both of 'em.” No brag, just fact ‘Jason McCord was portrayed by Chuck Connars in the TV series ‘Branded’. Every time McCord comes into a town, there is 2 75% chance that someone will recognize him who had a Close relative killed at Bitter Creek, ang will challenge McCord to a gunfight, Ben, Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe wore the Cartwrights of "Bonanza’, played by Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker, and Michael Landon. Little Joe was the only left-handed gun in this powerful ranching family, and also had the quickest temper. Don “Red” Barry is probably most ro- membered for hisstarring role inthe ser- ies "The Adventures of Red Ryder’ from 1940 to 194. His ast starring role wasin Iron Angel" (1969) but he has appeared regularly in supporting roles since then, Including such movies as "Johnny Get His Gun” (1971) and “Show- down” (1973) William “Wild Bill” Elliot rose to fame: while starring in the movie serial "The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok” in 4938. In 1944 he took over the lead of the Wild West Game Red Ryder" series, and ran the “Wild Bill Elliot” series on radio in 1950-51. He Continued to make top westerns untilthe late fitties “Hoot” Gibson was one of the first cowboy stunt men, beginning his rise to stardom in 1921 in “Action”. During the 4920s, Gibson ranked second only to ‘Tom Mixas the leading cowboy star. His pictures were mostly nonviolent, but fast and full of action. His popularity de- clined with the rise of the talkies’ (in the 1930s), but he kept some attention by starring in the first of the “Three Mes quiteers” series, which would later fea ture such greatsas John Wayne and Bob Steele, He later starred in the "Trail Blaz~ ers’ serles in 1943, William S. Hart portrayed the Old West as it really was, probably more than any other star of the early westerns. His films, such as “Tumbleweeds” (1925 and 1939) are now classic westerns, When realism in the movies lost its box office appeal, Hart retired from his movie ca- reer — and had never made a "talkie! Tim Holt was a real star. Much of the acting, even in the finest of the old west: erns, was admittedly not top notch however, Holt displayec a talent far above most of his contemporaries, inthe late thirties and into the forties, Holt was tone of the leading box office draws. In 1946 he made "My Darling Clementine! with Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Walter Brennan, and Ward Bond, This four-star film portrayed the events leading up to the famous Gunfight at the OK Gorral Holt's career ended in the early ities, but he appeared on TV as late as the sixties In a segment of "The Virginian” Allan “Rocky” Lane achieved cowsay stardom in the mid forties. He developed a character who was neat, kind, pleas: sant, handome, but quick on the trigger and tough na fistfight. He replaced Wild Bill Elliot as the lead in the “Red Ryder” series in 1946. His career, along with ‘most of the other movie cowboys’, faded in tho early fifties with the rise of television. Colonel Tim McCoy was most remem= bered for the series of films in which heNo “3 fhe itleman ns Dillon 8 Paladin 2 ‘osh Randall 46 jopalong Cassidy 5 "Yancy Derringer 6 Pahoo "2 Johnny Yura he Tho Cisco Kis 45 “Pancho 4 Bret Maverick 2 Bart Maverick 0 Boau Mavorick 0 ‘Wi Sonnet +2 Jeti Sonnet 2 Jason McCord ne Ben Gartwright 9 ‘Adam Cartwright n2 Hoss Cartwright “9 “Lite doe Cartwright as Don "Red" Barry 46 “id Bi” Eliot “7 Hoo!” Gibeon Hz lia 8. Hart “4 Tim Hott 6 “Rocky” Lane ng (Col Tim McCoy ae Joel McCrea He Tom Mix 8 ‘The Durango Kid 79 ob Stesle ie John Wayne 120 Gilint Eastwood 25 ee van Cloet 122 li Wallacn +20 THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN: ‘Yul Brenner 19 ‘Steve McQueen 5 dames Coburn iat Charles Bronson +5 Fobert Vaughn +12 Horst Buchholz 12 an sates +10 played “Lightning Bill” Carson, McCoy developed acharacter who was""The De~ {ective of the Range", Carson frequently donned disguises during the course ofa movie. He starred from the late twenties through the early forties, at which time he joined the army and attained the rank | cf Lieutenant Colonel Joel McCrea rose to stardom in the mnid thirties on the strength of some fine non-westems. His popularity was slip- ping until, in 1844, he made “Buffalo Bill. After 1945, McCrea made mostly ‘westerns, including the title role in “The Virginian®, He portrayed various histori cal figures, including Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and Sam Houston, In the late {orties and eariy fittes, he did the radio "seria “Tales of the Texas Rangers", and -20 0 +a/e15 18 “8 He sao 16 121 5 44/115 18 5 2 44/815 20 48 HO tases: 18 +5 “a +415 16 120 ‘5 14/15 15 8 4 43/410 16 10 121 13/10 18 5 “ 43/10 15 “20 a7 445 15 a ° 0 16 “10 2 3/910 16 +0 2 1216 16 +10 2 12/06 16 +20 7 w4/a15 4 H8 40310 7 Hs Ho 44rs15, 18 0 6 a5 15 “5 2 sates 7 7 2 44038 a 7 2 14/915 15 0 a 44735 14 5 0 14/e5 7 15 Ho +448, 18 5 7 +415 16 5 #2 44016 5 45 5 14795, 19 +20 4 44795 6 416 5 4ans 6 6 HS +415 2 115 2 448 14 48 % 44s 4 118 6 24s 19 +22 815/15 7 wt “5 15/15 6 2 O55 6 a7 Pe eras 18 5 M0 tans 7 40 $255 18 "5 7 15/15 18 +5 ecu ay 15/15 45 6 arts 7 10 “ HarHt8 16 starred in television's “Wichita Town” in 1959, He starred in "Mustang Country’ in 1975, andis till active. McCrea is cur- rently the Chairman of the Board of Di- rectors of the Cowboy Hall of Fame. Tom Mix was a U.S. Marshal and @ Texas Ranger before becoming a movie actor! By 1921 he was the “King of the Cowboys” in the movie westerns. His films had lots of action, chases, and fight soanes, but usually no one was killed. He ever smoked nor drank on-screen, Mix did all of his own stunt work, and sut- fered over 80 injuries during his film ca- reer. Ho retired from th movies in 1835, and died in a car accident in 1940. ‘The Durango Kid (Charles Starrett) rode across the screen in 56 movies, starting in 1940, “The Return of the "0 AE RGHJL L a mo COEF 40 ERG 10 ABM +0. EF 0 AERGHIKL 40 «BE AgGh nD 10 EF +0 ABEGHJL eee 6 EGK pene OE 110 AEHK 42 AEH 0 EGHs HOw 0 AE OA tease “0 ABEH 0 AEFHK 0 BG 110 AER Ho AERH NO ABEH HO ADEM 40 AEH HO ABCEGHIK 110 ABEH so ABRH “0 ABCEGH HO ABEH "0 BEM “0 EF 0 BEM no BEH 0 BEFH 0 ABOEM “0 ERM 40 AEHK 5 BH ‘A= pny woe song om nrc €— Buble the length oF mesium range when snooting ‘2 — Shoulder ains are considera a Yast F — No penalty for gluing opponent rst ont Healy wren shooting a roving target ‘Must use Sharpangoing ula ena must ve gun "gun aminand® ony K—No penalty fo "wrong nana” shooting Durango Kid" appearedin 1945 and con- tinued until 1982. The Kid would typical- ly appear from nowhere, save the day. and reappear later as a mild-mannered ‘nobodyPRIZE Bob Steele was probably the fastest draw of all the old movie cowboys. He ros0 to fame in the late twenties. In the forties he did a series as Billy the Kid, and made 20 pictures in the “Three Mes- quiteers’ series; he also starred in the “Trail Blazers” series, He has continued ‘working to the present day; you may re- member him as Trooper Dufly on televi- sion's "F Troop” John Wayne tas appeared in a great number of westerns, These ratings re- present a composite of his various roles. Clint Eastwood did appear in tolevi sion westerns, but his career didn’'tmerit the ‘star’ category until he became the ‘Man with No Name''in the “Dollars” ser- les of movies. Eastwood has a Gambler Rating of 12, and is definitely one of the finest gunfighters ever seen, Lee Van Cleet is one of the few ‘bad guys’ to make it big in western movies. He played ‘heavies’ throughout, from films and television of the early titties through his most successful role — one of the three gunfighters in “The Good. ‘The Bad, and The Ugly” (which starred Clint Eastwood). This film launched his starring career in European westerns, Eli Wallach has also achieves some notoriety as a villain, especially in “The Magnificent Seven’ and in "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”. He was & scrappy, trouble-making gunfighter. Yul Brynner has made several west- ferns, and tne ratings are a composite of them all, most notably "The Magnificent Seven’, “Catlow’", and “Westworld Steve McQueen played Brynner's friend in “The Magnificent Seven where he was a superb ritleman. James Coburn is always as cool as ice inhis best westerns. In"The Magnificent Seven” (on which these ratings are based), his favorite weapon wasa stiletto throwing knife, with which he had deadly accuracy and speed Charles Bronson has been excellentin many movies, including "The Magnifi cent Seven”. His fearlessness and strength have won him a reputation of being a very tough hombre in a fight. Robert Vaughn was also in “The Mag- nificant Seven”. He portrayed a coward lycon manwhoovercamehis cowardice at the end, where he died bravely. Note: before play begins, roll percentile dice, a result of75 or less indicates that the low- cer Bravery Score should be used Horst Buchholz played the last of the professional gunfighters in "The Magni- ficent Seven”. Hewas greedy and careful about the odds in fight, but dependable and steadfast when in action Juan Mateos played Chico in “The Magnificent Seven". Brynner and McQueen were uncertain about taking thisbrash, untried youth along, but final- ly gave in because he would make their number seven — for luck’. He survived in that film, and later reappeared in “The Return of the Seven’ Notes For the Dungeon Master Miscellaneous Notes Ever since the original D&D® set was published, fantasy role players have been searching for unique, unusual, and start- ling tricks ana traps. The “ogre jelly’ of that fabled edition, plus other infamous. tricks (and puns) gave rise to the nev ending search for the truly different, epi- demic among Dungeon Masters. This Ccolumnwill provide an outlet for unpub- lished and unsung creative minds across the world, united through the RPGA™ network. Send us your goodies! If you have a really 900d, relatively unknown trick or trap that you don't mind telling the world about, we'll take a serious look atit and ‘maybe publish it here, giving you credit The deadline for thenext issue is July 27, i981 1. The cleric stands by the coffin, holy symbol at ready. The party has a sturdy fighter holding a rope att- ached to the coffin lid, and pullsitaft on the prearranged signal. The cler- ic thrusts the symbol forward at whatever is in the coffin...and sees the medusa, who tries to petrify him and then bites him with the snakes. (if you fee! particularly nasty, follow this up with some unar-dead — like wraiths — after working over the poor cleric.) 2. The treasure seems unguarded, but the sly mage has determined otherwise; the area around itis mag- ical. A dispel magic might destroy any potions therein, so a pet is sent to the area; BANG goes the glyph leaving the treasure free for the tak- ing, Unfortunately, when picked up, the treasure's second trap, a trip wire, rings a Chime of Hunger and wakes a few monsters nearby. 3. Abridge leads north across the un- derground chasm to a 60’ long ledge, ateach endotwhichisadoor, Continuing narth, The ledge forms a “7” with the bridge, As the party progresses onto the ledge, it is found to be on a pivot; the whole party cannot progress through the door(s} until they split up evenly, halfentering each door, keeping the ledge balanced. They will reunite eventually, but until then, 4, The party meetsaset of guards, who demand to see their papers. If they have none, they are directed to the nearest office, whien will keep them waiting for hours unless bribed; the papers (not including the bribe) cost 4009p per person, or 1000gp, orwhat- ‘ver fits the campaign, When asked for their papers at the nex! meeting with the guards, the party proudly 10 10, 1" Volume |, No. 1 gives them — only to have them eat fn by the guards, They must return and buy more. The NPC acquired by the party be- fore leaving for the adventure has @ severe problem. In times of stess, he/she gets a bad case of very loud hiccups. Especially when trying to sneak up an something, of when Casting a critically needed spel (Well, [guess a cure disease would calm him down for a while.) The area of twisting corridors the party is entering isthe home turfofa Cleric/Assassin, levels 4/7 or so. He likes to run around with Oust of Bis. appearance on (applied after sigh ing the party through his peep: holes) and with a silence 15' radius donned for theattack, The party mem bers start dropping like flies, rom the rear forward, unless they take few precautions. (Foreshadow the danger with bodies or blood, or this one can be a real killer.) The druid encountered with her oun party is relatively harmless; the pat= ty is only about level 2-5, But the druid is wearing a Girdle of Giant Strength, and can do much damage with ranged weaponry — like darts (Battacks per round, damage 63/62 lus strength bonus...) ‘The four halflings encountered in the woods give some help to the pat= ty, and are quite friendly and coute teous. They are thieves but not ar~ mored, and have all been charmed successfully by an erinyes, wis polymorphed into the shape af one of thom. (The party starts geting worried when they’ must save vs spells (including wisdom ad just) against charms, but nobodjs doing any spell casting... ‘must be something out there in the woods says a halfling.) ‘The skeletons encountered aremest ly turned by the cleric, and the a= fers are quickly dispatched by fh ters. But they have been enchanled to regenerate, and keap getting ‘The noise attracts something nal living nearby. While heading down the corridor section of wall ahead disintegral Noises of battle are heard, and ‘demon is seen fighting witha gro of elves, who are losing badly, party decides to vacate the prem: rather quickly... and are thus sea away by an illusion, ‘The mummies (or black pudding other ereatures susceptible to fh are infested by brown mold, whit ‘grows rapidly when the fire suse Watch it. This one can be d too.mer, 1981 FIGHT IN THE SKIES game is a mplayer game which simulates jaar aerial combat in the last v0 of the war, 1917 and 191B. Each takes ine fole ofan individual pr fying one of the many famous ai sfaftne ara classic planes such 28 Sopwith Camel, SE. Sa, SPAD. fr and Albatros, Players ave part of maivation, and each onemakes ll facilcl decisions of maneuvering fighting, with the aircraft reflecting fristoneal ealite characteristics ot ed, maneuverability, climbing and gaily, and 30 torn, The game system satis relatively taking up only the frst pagesot Ezpage gamedook This meanatnat De asic. mechanics of play are tainly Bey grasped by beginners. The s6- Tits enthusiasts, nowever, stso enjoy “se ame, Yor these. are.» multtuce oF Basic optional ruies which ada tothe Sane complexity tocreatetne'Yoo! of Bp acral warfare. These optional rulse Mice such aspects as: Clouds, Wind Boisenation Battoons, Landing & Take ts, nango/Firepower Elfectiveness Inmunition Expenditure, Gun Jam Bro. Ground Fire & Ground Attack Bema Parachutes, and Pilot Exper! bss the latter rule which gives the ets very popular role playing as- fas playerstormthelr own rstersof ots, faking each one into combat king frst to survive, and then to inate successtulmissionsane the bis of enemy planes downed in com= oe ole playing thrust is bul around concept ofeach indidual pilot and quest 19 become an "Ace Each per creates and maintains a roster of eivcual plots, each with a unique til. Allofthem startaslledaling fy and enter the word of aerial combat disadvantage ~~ seeking survival Istana thon the experience andhope- HE FIGHT IN THE SKIES™ Game fully, the kills) that will allow them to meet their adversaries on an equal foot- Ing. As they progress through more and more missions (air patties), they gain the ‘experience and quite possibly the aerial victories to move them tohigher levels of experience - with a commensurate in- Crease in game abilities at each step. Of course, the career of a combat pilot is fraught with danger,and many arelostin the course of combat, falling due to an enemy's bullets, an unlucky hit, oF hos- tile ground fire -to become another cas- Lally of the Great War, or perhaps a pri- soner of war. Inany event, the challenge: Of taking a pilot through the risks and dangers of combat is what makes a FIGHT IN THE SKIES game exciting Just as in other role playing games, players easily identify with their various Characters, and feel their loss just as keenly it misfortune befalls them, The comraderie of "FITS" players ri- vals their World War | counterparts — and the elements of honor and chivalry which werea part of thewar in the air are also sometimes seen in the game Whether it's swapping stories about pilot experiences, comparing the careers of individual pilots, or going to the aid of a distressed wingman in a hard-fought game, FIGHT IN THE SKIES players are. a group of enthusiasts who share a common bond —a love of the game, the. ra. and the pilot characters who come alive under their own guidance. They all know the same feelings that make this, ‘more than just another game — the trep- {dation the novice pilot feels when meet- ing an experienced adversary, the feel- ing of danger when an Ace pilot is mpe- riled, the comradeship ot flying with fa- miliac wingmen, the satistaction of sur- viving @ difficult mission, and — of course — the thrill of bringing down a dangerous enemy. The FIGHT IN THE SKIES set is many ‘games in one package and for any num= SEND by Mike Carr ber of players trom? to 12. Besides sug- gestions for setting up games, there are fifteen different scenarios for up 10 8 players. Also included are unique provi- sions for random combat which take into account 4 myriad of variable factors in~ volved in setting upa dogfight. They are found simply oy rolling dice andinclude: number of planes, altitude level of the air battle, starting altitudes of opposing flights, location of the combat (over a particular side of the lines, or perhaps "No Man's Land), opposing aircraft types, clouds, wind, andsoon, Sinceany number can play (a further variable), the result is an infinite number of possible ‘game situations! Because of its variety and flexibility with any number of partic! pants, FITS has an appeal that makes it farmore than an everyday game. And the fact that the average playing time is only 45-90 minutes per game means that sev eral different games can be played in one sitting, regardless of the number of players. Most of all, FIGHT IN THE SKIES. games can be fun and exciting! Each player isa personal partof achallenging team situation where flying skill, shoot- ing ability, quick decisions, and finesse (plus a litte bit of luck) can combine to make the difference between success and failure. The thrill of scoring a dec- sive “kill” or the challenge of “riding down" a burning plane are only two of the possible experiences which are a common part of FIGHT IN THE SKIES. games. Everyone who plays it comes away with real respect for the pilots of World War | — a tribute to the game's accuracy and fulfillment of purpose. ‘Tho FIGHT IN THE SKIES gama is the result of over 13 years of exhaustive re- search and playtesting, and the current 6th Edition includes everything needed 10 create all kinds of World War | dog fights: ‘alarge size playing grid, printed onENTRIES heavy paper stock: — a complete instruction and rules booklet over30 pages in length which includes basic rules plus a host of realistic optional rules, and more; = over 100 die-cut playing pieces coveringallof the major aircraft types available on all sides during 1917 and 1818, 26 Allied and 30 German/Austro- Hungarian types in all — plus balloons! = a full listing of specification data, detailing the relative performance characteristics of all the aircraft types included in the game. And historical charts to show which were in service in any particular month, and the chances of seeing each in combat: four sets of maneuver cards cover- ing the aerobatic possibilities of the ca, like the loop, Barrel roll, wingov- er, falling leaf, and others; = a full set of important charts and playing aids; = and a set of dice for probability resolution: = all in an attractive, full-color gamebox ‘The FIGHT IN THE SKIES Society is a testimony to the game's popularity, en- compassing approximately 85 members. with @ tradition going back to its found- ing in 1989. The society's purpose is 10 Promote the play of FIGHT IN THE SKIES through games by mail and tour- naments held at regional gaming con- March 11,1981 An Open Letter to Frank Mentzer RPGA™ Coordinator POB 509, Lake Geneva, Wi 53147 Frank, Best of luck to you and the RPGA™ team in the near future! The Association sounds like a great idea anc | hope it will be successfulin promoting mature com- petition and fun, | don't know if you know what has happened to TOP SECRET™gamo in the. past five years, so Il tell you (this gives me a good chance to plug my product and exercise my back-patting muscles) Aiter being inspired by @ Halloween ver sion of an obscure role playing game at ISU (lowa State University) in 1975, | started to write. Leading a pack mule underground with a bunch of greedy, blood-thirsty humanoids just didn’t excite me too much at four in the ‘morning. 1 wanted something | could re- late to. Shadowing coeds on campus, ‘opening mailboxes, and searching lab- orators by flashlight are far more pro- ductive. Besides, !'@ had a childhood of Maxwell Smart, "Mission: Impossible, and"! Spy, ventions (Including the society's annual games at the GEN CON® convention each August — an event that itself dates back to 1968). The socioty currently has approximately 18 gamesbeing conduct- fed by mail, and the society's bimonthly newsletter, AERODROME, has pub- lished over 80 issues — and is still going strong. The FIGHT IN THE SKIES So- ciety’s history and the loyally of its play- crs reflect the unusual appeal this game has for its players. This illustrious group will place itself alongside the RPGA™ ef- forts to promote the game by increasing its popularity and providing the oppor tunity to play and compete in events nationwide, The FIGHT IN THE SKIES concept had its beginnings in 1967, when the mo- vie"The Blue Max” inspired.creation ota game on WW | aerial combat. Three pho- tocopied editions of 25, 50, and 100 co- pies (respectively) gave gamers their first taste of it, and they wanted more, The 4th Edition was published in 1971 by Guidon Games, and after the demise of that company TSR Hobbies published. the Sth Edition in 1976, with the current game being the 6th Edition. all through- ut its history, the FIGHT IN THE SKIES. game has evolved inta a more realistic and widely played game. One of the game's most interesting traditions is the fact that it has been a partof every annual GEN CON® gaming convention each August, The FIGHT IN April Dancer, James Bond, Emma Peel and llya Kuriyakin were far more believ- able to me than Conan or Bilbo or Fathra or Elric. So, from a video background anda childhood of mimicry and making people believe | was someone else, the TOP SECRET™ game evolved. Mike Cart was immediately encouraging, Allen Hammack would later carve over 200 typewritten pages into an editing mas- terpiece of 64 printed pages, A module was needed, so | practically stole Mike Carr's instructions for D&D® Module 81 (take a look at it sometime, and substi- tute “Admin” for "Dungeon Master’, or "Human Target” for "Monster’). After a year of gametesting and eighteen months of editing, the TOP SECRET game was published in February of 1980. Orders from the Hobby Industry of America show in Anaheim and the Toy Show in New York helped the first print- ing (10,000 copies) to evaporate, The second printing ran out in three mnths, ‘The DRAGON™ magazine started carry- ing "The Rasmussen Files” and printeda Missile Mission”, In late 1980 (or was it early 19817). Games Workshop of London chose the TOP SECRET game. as the Best New Game of 1980. (I hope the players in the USA follow this exam- ple of good taste at Origins '81.) 12 Volume I, No. 1 THE SKIES Society's annual “Dawn Patrol” is played each year at:30AMon the Saturday of the convention. This year is no exception, as 80 players will take to the skies on the morning of Aus gust 15th for this traditional event, hel at the UW-Parkside campus outside Rat cine, Wisconsin, This classic event is only one of the seven FIGHT IN THE SKIES games scheduled as part of the 1981 GEN CONE convention and is the longest-running annual eventon thecon- vention schedule. An RPGA" event will also offer FIGHT IN THE SKIES players {an opportunity to compete in a sancti= foned game, with prizes and scoring in the RPGA™ tradition. It's only the start! What does the future hold for the RPGA™ FIGHT IN THE SKIES players? Well, first off — increased exposure of the game and the opportunity to meet many new players. Adg to thal the series of tournaments the RPGA™ sponsorship. will make possible at national gaming conventions, the articles and coverage available in the RPGA™ newsletter, plus the chance to place your own pilots ona national listing of Aces, and you can see that there's pienty of exciting things in store! I'm looking forward to supporting the Association in any way | can — and to meeting you in the skies over the Western Frontat an RPGA”™ event, In the meantime, if you haven't played the game, | hope you'll give it a try. Until then, KEEP EM FLYING! What next? Watch DRAGON mage- zine for more “Rasmussen files” and mini-modules. TSA Hobbies wants meto vwritea new beginner's module to replace Sprechenhaltestolle. TSR is also looking formore advances mission modules ike OPERATION: RAPIDSTRIKE trom good imaginative writers. THE SPACE GAMER would like me to write an article ‘on how to combine the TOP SECRET game with TRAVELLER, Even Dave Cook's CRIMEFIGHTERS rules, from DRAGON magazine #47, had a lot of “transferrable” intarmation and tasted like a new spin-off to me. Well done, Dave! Such fresh role playing concepls are needed "il be trying to appear at regional con this spring and summer. Gen Gon® xiv ‘game convention is my major target this ‘year, unless those royalty checks get heavier soon. | should be able to attend any RPGA™ Meetings, TS Seminars, and Tournaments there. A few ramblings before | stop trans- mitting: Why don't more RPG authors have more than one system on the markel? Are they t00 busy to develop anather, just uninspired? { would guess that even the best idea must be marketable, ari won't see print. Madule writingisa temp: tation, too.Summer, 1981 GEN CON® SOUTH REPORT Jacksonville Beach, Florida: On a mild Wicekend here in early February, over 850 hobby gamers descended on the Ramada inn to play DUNGEONS & DRAGONS? games, war games, board ‘mes, and many others A highlight of the events here at the ‘ith annual GEN CON®* South game tonvention, held on the weekend of Feb- Tuary 6:8 1981, was a large battle of mi- flature tanks on "The World's Largest Snr Tabe"—thebeacholthe llanticOcean! Payers maneuvered their forces in a large outdoor game of TRACTICS (pub Ished by TSR Hobbies) 3 The convention was run by the Cow- ford Dragoons, a local game club, and co-sponsored by TSR Hobbies, Ino. TSR. presented over $300 in prizes to the Winners of he ADVANCED DUNGEONS. SDRAGONS® Open Tournament, which Sew over 200 players of all ages. Many Playing aids for AD&D games were giv- fmaway as prizes along with donations ffom other companies, including lead miniature figures from Grenadier Mod: fls and Minifigs, paint brushes from Polly-S, and thirleen RPGA™ Member- ships. Is anyone else tired of seeing magic fad swordplay role playing games, in a Tantasy medieval setting? What about fame more fresh directions with mass- huzrket appeal, but more role playing themes and settings to choose from? Winat about the modern era, and less- than-mortal combat in interactions? “Winat about professions? Where are the females? I'd like to see “more writers and artists of the female ender. What keeps them away from role: playing? What do they want in gaming? Has anyone done a survey on likes and dislikes? Since the TOP SECRET gamehas sold {yer 20,000 copies in its first ten montns, you can bet that TSR is interested in more of the same. | have talked to Mike Carr about this, and have a few RPG doas sill stacked away in my files. Of course, any further details would ruin the surprise and as usual, such intorma- Vion is classified TOP SECRET! Surreptitiously, Merle M. Rasmussen The Administrator ‘The top winner of the tournament was Matthew Rupp of Auburn Fantasy Ga~ mers, a club based in Alabama. The oth- ‘er winners included: WINNING TEAM Steven Berger Forest Park, GA Martin Chytil Independent Michael Etheridge Forest Park, GA Eric Forsman Independent Bruce Petlibone _independent Dwayne Smoot _Independent RUNNERS UP Kim Humphreys St. Lucie County Wargamers Carl Lum SOS (Sun Coast Strategists) David Mazzoll PSD (Psychadelic Ducks) Mike Stonebraker PSD Mike Thompson SCS. RogerW. Werder SCS A unique aspect of this convention was the extensive club participation. At most game conventions, individuals ‘compete for points and prizes. Here in as 13 Florida, however, clubs attended and played as groups, closely watching the mputer-assisted tallies of club points n each category (role playing games, war games, board games, and others). The rivalry was fierce, and cheers and groans were often heard as the "best Overall club” totals changed at the corr pletion of events. The clubs represented In the tournament included ‘Angrenost ‘Arioch’s Chosen ‘Auburn Fantasy Gamers Berkely Games Courts of Chaos Cowford Dragoons Grobie Droogs Dragons Den. Fantasy Unlimited Forest Park Gold Coast Lancers High Lords of Fantasy Indialantic Toy Shoppe Jacksonville Brotherhood of Thieves Leviathan MAGIC NWF (Naples Wargame Federation) Orange Park Wargamers PPAP (Push, Pull, & Pivot) Round Table Association St Lucie County Wargamers Florida Sun Coast Strategists Tampa Optics Uot Florida Simulated Comba Uof Miami ROTC Uof Central Florida, Orlando Uf South Carolina Wardens of the Gem Wasted Knights The GEN CONS South convention VI will be held next year in February. For more information, write to: GEN COI ‘South Convention VI, POB 16371, J somille, Florida $2207, 3 ClubThe creation of the Gamma Worl concept was a very real attempt to com- bine the already popular ideas of fantasy role playing with all of the interesting aspects of science fiction. When | was introduced to the D&D* system in the seventies (and itis hard to believe that it was only 7 years ago) I continually found myself wishing to have items and inven- tions that could never have existed in the medieval settings that lconstantly founa myself gaming in. Every anceand awhile Iwould be given a taste of such things in anon D&D way. | thinkitwas in Gary G's game, when | was able to acquire a 46 ray gun, that | realized that such things were possible — if rules would allow for their balance ina game format. | created Metamorphosis Alpha in response, and the Gamma World game later evolved with the help of Jake Jaquet. Inworking with the Gamma World sys tem, there are many features that are similarto the D&D and AD&D" systems, One can immediately notice the armor class, oF the dice of damage that wea- ons do, as coming straight aut of fanta- syrole playing games. Thebody’sinher- ent powers (strength, intelligence and the like} are familiar to both games, These and other TSR™rale playing con- cepts had proven themselves, and they were used in the Gamma World system The difference comesinthe subject mat- ter and its treatment. The scenario upon which the Gamma World game is based isa simple one: the whole earth has undergone a conflict, which spread destruction and radiation over everything. Amid this destruction, man and new intelligences are strug gling for dominance in their respective #8. The rules booklet briefly outlines agroup of technological items left by the ‘Ancients", which prospective players can learn how to use, helping them 10 rise above their environment, The rules also present groups of physical, mental and plant-ike mutational powers that make the beings of this new earth strong enough to survive the grim setting in which they grow up. Mental powers (lke telepathy and empathy) allow for com- munication between specie that have no verballanguages. Physical powers like olec~ trieal generation oF sonic blasts) makes for interesting combat against items like attack robots and powered sults of The game has existed for over a year now, and is one of TSA's success stories for Several reasons special to itsel!, Many Dungeon Masters have picked up the system so they can liven up their campaigns with some of the monsters and some of the items of technology. Volume I, No. 1 SCIENCE FANTASY - A ROLE PLAYING GAME WITH A DIFFERENCE These were designed to balance each ther, ang Ihave seen them wark in sev- eral different types of role playing games. The concept of a complete being at the beginning of the game — not in- creasing in powers — has appealed to wargame spirit of many players; they look at Gamma World charactors as a real challenge in survival. In the Gamma World system, one gains power through material acquisition and picking up Knowledge of the working environment There are greater possibilities for variety inthe system, while D&D players are on- couraged to create their own monsters ‘and items, the existing ones are easier to use and work with. The Gamma World foterse is forced to work a little harder because of the practical need to create continually mutating beings and situa: tions, In a GW environment, the influ- fence of radiation and mutations is. 50 strong that it creates an ever-changing series of scenarios, resulting in fast- paced games with a highly lethal flavor more than in most D&D campaigns Finally, the societies that exist in the game have created an ever-changing ‘Game flow that is unique to the GW sys tem. In Gamma World, as in real ite, there are power groups that work for dominance. not only in their habitats but 1 areas far removed from theit local sit- vation. When groups like the Knights of Genetic Purity (who fallow a doctrine in which pure-strain humans are consideres by JAMES A. WARD the only intelligent race fit for life on the face of the earth) and the Radioactivists (a group worshipping the desiructive- hess of radiation and its mutational et- fects) come together. it makes for unu: sual action that works behind the scene ofthe normal playerinteraction. Because Of these groups, the normal actions ot the players from day to day become changed. We no longer see players al- lowedto enter areas o look for treasures (sometimes finding it amang the ruins) and safely coming back home. They must meetana face pressure fram groups that will often resent the way the group looks, the individual members of the ‘group, oF what they are carrying. These ower blocs allow the referee to have ‘even more interplay within the role play: ing system (for more fun at the same time), Think what appeals to me most in the game isthe ability to use thepresentand its environment for encounters that the players come across, When I have them fun into a restaurant or office building, | just think of examples that Ihave been and it becomes easy to judge the situa- tian, A case in point was a bit of action ‘where the players ran across a small ar- mary that was left untouched by the in- fluence of the “Ancient” wars. |had been very familiar with armories that my father ‘worked in while | was a boy, and the one my players ran into became the one to which |had gone to see my ather. knew where the supply rooms were and the offices ang the like, and I was able to tell, them what was there, even though | hadn'twritten any of that down. This sort Of “use of the present” makes judaing the game much easier. There is a small drawback, however, in that players are trying to use their “real life” knowledge in the game format. It is important to game balance to not let people use fire- arms or the like just because they have seen them used by otters, or because the present day use of such things is easy torus. Thedriving ofacarisan easy process far mast of us, but when all of the factors and variables are given to 8 Person not directly familiar with this modern day culture, the task would be: Come all but impossible. The same con: ‘cept must be used in the Gamma World setting. Beings cannot be allowed to di- rectly use technology unless they have spent the time and effort to learn all of the important processes of the items under question. Probably the most frequently asked question on Gamma World that comes across my desk is “What should | give player characters, and where shouldSummer, 1981 HEADQUARTERS they start out?” This question takes (9 retain their nd when players indsuch tems they should DEFEND YOU TSW AGAINST BOREDOM 2 OB. B b) ron pe ee Raed ee ee peut) CoP Ent re CCM tT crema sy Caer Perret sae eh oay Game Designers i e Arai , , erates Pore \ Paneer crore ect e (Eee cries NGEON! HOBRy 472 MAIN gs ae GENEVA, wy’ vRONG IN THE LAND OF NIDD Wha (TM TELLIN' YA “Tete Look! DOWN THERE... THERE'S GAME UP)/cerreR ee) AMER OF GROATS! ee HEAD FUZFOOT... oR, Saeacty | G WELL EAT RUMBLE me | A y 2 reg BUNGLERS! "ret AN EXPERT AT WORK, Wits A BOLO! 7 Wer ae