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Phlegmatic - Classic White Dwarf

Jun. 12th, 2009 07:05 pm Classic White Dwarf

That's White Dwarf, the 'Science Fiction and Fantasy Games Magazine', not Red Dwarf, the comedy science fiction television series.

I own quite a few White Dwarf magazines from the time before the magazine was dedicated solely to Games Workshop's own games. I also own the first 90 issues in .pdf format, bought on an offical CD-ROM last year. I've been reading through them recently, and I thought I'd share my thoughts...



Issue 1 (June/July 1977)
The first article was a review of Metamorphosis Alpha, which I believe was the first science fiction RPG. There's also the first part of an unbelievably tedious method of working out what an appropriate mix of monsters to put in your dungeon is called 'Monstermark'. Oh and a guide to 'Ceompetitive D&D' and 'D&D Campaigns' - "D&D campaigns are very rare here because most DMs are insufficiently experienced to set one up." There are no adventures in the issue, or new monsters. White Dwarf's first new character class for D&D was the Pervert. "Alignment can be heterosexual, homsexual or bisexual." A 9th level pervert is a "Rapist". Nice.

Issue 2
Ian Livingstone's editorial complains about 'traditional' wargamers looking down their noses at players of SF and fantasy games. The first miniatures to be mentioned are Bryan Ansell's Asgard Miniatures. Ansell later founded Citadel Miniatures, bought out Games Workshop, moved White Dwarf to Nottingham and set role-playing games in this country back years by changing GW from a role-playing games company to manufacturers to rules to sell his miniatures. The contents page of issue 77 (the last before the move) spells out 'SOD OFF BRYAN ANSELL'.
Yet more interminable tables of 'Monstermark'. Legendary SF critic Dave 'Ansible' Langford makes his first appearance with the Scientist character class for D&D.

Issue 3
An article on mapping dungeons when playing on your own. It seems staggering now that people would play D&D on their own, but it was done. "It seems to me that D&D is an ideal game for solo adventures." Really? Yet more 'Monstermark'. The first suggestion that D&D scenarios can be anything other than dungeon crawls is a review of 'City-State of the Invincible Overlord' - a (gasp) city for adventuring in. Among the reviews is TSR's (not completely licensed) 'Battle of the Five Armies'. There is also WD's first ever article on miniature painting. Back in 1977, acrylic paints were rare - most miniature painters were using Humbrol enamels "I would never think of dipping a sable brush into a tinlet of their uniform colours". There's a letter from a rival magazine editor (Paul Jaquays - later a writer and artist for TSR and a level designer on computer games like Quake) complaining that "if one is not a student of mathematics, the mechanics (of Monstermark) are impossible".

Issue 4
More of the same. Still no pre-prepared adventures. In fact, if you look at what was commercially available at this time, it was all about rules - extra rules for doing things not covered by the main rulebooks that you'd bought. Very few published adventures and even fewer settings. Nowadays, you can't move for RPG settings.

Issue 5
A sign of the magazine's limited circulation at this time is the cover. It's two colour rather than full colour, and it depicts a naked woman - with nipples. Lads' mags and porno mags can't show nipples on the cover, but WD5 did. The editorial is all about copyright and the reluctance of copyright owners to allow licensed games because the numbers would be too small. Ian Livingstone mentions the lack of Star Wars games. How things change...
There is an advert of a shop in Birmingham called 'Dungeons & Starships'. This mixture of fantasy and SF is common among retailers at the time (and is reflected in 'The Androids' Dungeon' in 'The Simpsons'). Unusually, D&S is still going, making it one of the country's oldest games shops.
Big review of 'Chivalry & Sorcery', a rival to D&D that survived a few years on a reputation of being more 'realistic'. The realism versus fun debate was quite a big one in fantasy RPGs at the time it seems. Another review is FGU's 'War of the Ring' described as sort of like Diplomacy for two players. It got 5 out of 10.
Most interesting letter is from someone in New York arguing that players shouldn't be allowed to roll their own dice (!)

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Comments:

From:[info]wellinghall
Date:June 12th, 2009 07:54 pm (UTC)
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I started reading with issue 19 or so. And I remember playing City State of the God Emperor, which I think was the precursor to the Invincible Overlord.
From:[info]philmophlegm
Date:June 12th, 2009 08:01 pm (UTC)
(Link)
That's way before me, but then you're old...
From:[info]wellinghall
Date:June 13th, 2009 09:20 am (UTC)
(Link)
I remember seeing an issue 23 on eBay a while ago, and that was definitely familiar. I spotted an issue 20 last night, which rang half a bell, but I can't be sure. So somewhere in the range 19 - 23.
From:[info]philmophlegm
Date:June 12th, 2009 08:00 pm (UTC)
(Link)
Issue 6
There's a reply to the guy complaining about players rolling their own dice from Lew Pulsipher, one of ealy WD's more belligerent columnists and the creator of the 'Britannia' boardgame.
Of most interest to me is the lengthy review of the very first edition of Traveller. The reviewer thought that people would buy it but was sceptical that they would ever actually play it.

Issue 7
The magazine's first full-colour cover, albeit not a very good painting (mostly naked girl - with nipple - sat on strange beast) by John Blanche. A grandly titled article "Feudal Economics in Chivalry & Sorcery". A letter from E. Gary Gygax himself complaining about an article "I read the article 'Combat and Armour Class' by Roger Musson with considerable dismay. It appears that the good gentleman does not know what Dungeons & Dragons is all about." EGG is setting out his stall firmly in the more fun, less realism camp. Another letter is from Ian Waugh, creator of the Pervert class, complaining about Lew Pulsipher setting himself up as an "authority" on D&D.
Gygax also contributes an article on magic item proliferation.

Issue 8
The inside front cover has an advert for Phoenix Model Developments' Atlantis range of minatures. I've had a discussion on LiveJournal in the past about female depictions in fantasy with (among others) pellegrina and pellinor. I have to admit though to being struck by the ratio of clothed to naked to naked-and-in-chains female miniatures in the late 1970s. I reckon the ratio must have been something like 1:10:10. Really, there are almost no miniatures of women wearing clothes, and about half of the naked ones are in chains.
There's an article on creating models of monsters that bunn would probably find interesting. Advanced D&D arrives in the form of the Monster Manual - "without doubt the best thing TSR have produced so far". The letters page is mostly full of the people who were slagged off in the last issue replying and slagging off the people who slagged them off in the first place. It's all rather like the worst sorts of student societies. The first Dragonmeet was announced - to take place at Chelsea Old Town Hall.

Issue 9
Quite a nice cover of a warrior with crossbow mounted on a giant flightless bird. WD's first ever Traveller article (on experience - something missing from Traveller in its classic form). A 'mini-dungeon' "The Lichway", which would arguably count as White Dwarf's first ever adventure. There is a review of 'Superhero 44', by Lou Zocchi. Zocchi is now perhaps best-known as the inventor of the zocchihedron, the 100-sided die. The first reviews of actual scenarios for role-playing games are the G1-3 'Against the Giants' series for AD&D. They got 9 out of 10. Ian Livingstone clearly wrote his 1-100 Table of Useless Items to fill up a quarter of the page. "57-60 Jar of nail clippings"

Issue 10
Nice cover - spaceship hovering over a castle (that mixture of SF and fantasy again) by Eddie Jones. More adverts for minatures of naked girls in chains. A selection tricks and traps to put in dungeons - something that was quite important at the time, and reflects the sometimes depiction of D&D as 'DM versus players', something that has thankfully disappeared from role-playing games. In the letters page, the realism versus fun debate continues to rage. A particular good example of too much realism given was the 'percentage chance to successfully tickle a trout' table in issue 9's article on the 'Forester' character class.
Later in WD's career, they had a tendency to sneer at most of TSR's output. Not so in this issue, where the post-apocalypse RPG 'Gamma World' received 9 out of 10, and the AD&D 'Player's Handbook' a perfect 10. First mention of video games is a Games Workshop advert for the Atari VCS console.


From:[info]philmophlegm
Date:June 12th, 2009 09:16 pm (UTC)
(Link)
Issue 11
New weapons for Traveller (most of which would be considered very uncanonical now, but back then, there wasn't very much Traveller canon). Letters include a criticism of Monstermark (possibly it took a year for anyone to actually understand it) and Lew Pulsipher's survey of favourite character classes (Magic User 29, Fighter 17, Cleric 8, Thief 4). Runequest is reviewed "...a good alternative to Dungeons & Dragons". Big praise also for the D1-3 Drow series of AD&D modules. The big Games Workshop advert on the inside back cover proclaims the UK edition of Traveller.

Issue 12
Typical of the larger adverts are ones from Games of Liverpool and Games Workshop on the inside front and back covers respectively. Both are little more than price lists. Strongly worded editorial railing against people photocopying material. Among the monsters in this issue's 'Fiend Factory' is the Githyanki (a race of evil humans enslaved by the mind flayers). TSR's AD&D 'Fiend Folio' was a collection of monsters from Fiend Factory, and it had a picture of a Githyanki on the cover.
Among this issue's reviews is Chaosium's 'All The World's Monsters, volume II', which I auctioned after nobody wanted it at SwapFrag.
Full colour advert on the back cover for Gamma World. A photo (unusual) of two girls in skimpy silver space suits looking for all the world like rejects from the casting for the video of "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper".

Issue 13
Terrible cover of male barbarian in furry jockstrap (and nothing else) with half-naked (and surprisingly ugly) girl wrapped around his leg. Copies of the combat tables from the delayed AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide. Some interesting extra rules for Traveller. The Houri (or 'Nymph of Paradise') character class. Basically a half-naked magic-user prostitute character, that surely must have been the inspiration for Kron Mandoon's Anneka character.
A letter from Don Turnbull admitting that the new AD&D combat tables have rendered his Monstermark useless.

Issue 14
'Mercenary' and '1,001 Characters' for Traveller reviewed. A 'mini-scenario' (note that they don't use the term 'mini-dungeon' any more) for Runequest 'The Lair of the White Wyrm'. More traps for dungeons.
An interview with Gary Gygax. "Nothing will absolutely spoil a campaign as quickly as some of the material offered in the various adventure gaming magazines." Lots of classified ads of players wanting groups to play with and groups wanting more players.

Issue 15
A werewolf on the cover - the first mention of horror rather than straight SF or fantasy. More extra rules for Traveller (including a section of different stellar types, something that later official additions to the rules would include).
An entire two-player boardgame by Ian Livingstone called 'The Barbarian' and illustrated by a very camp barbarian with moustache and wearing only a thong.
More classifieds of people looking for groups to play with. I wonder whether Mr A. Nunn of Freetown, Sierra Leone ever found anyone.
From:[info]philmophlegm
Date:June 12th, 2009 10:20 pm (UTC)
(Link)
Issue 16
The licensing problem mentioned in Issue 5 seems to be disappearing - Citadel has a range of Star Trek: The Motion Picture miniatures. Monsters from the Thomas Covenant books by Lewis Pulsipher. The first article for TSR's wild west RPG 'Boot Hill', which is also reviewed.
Also reviewed is GDW's strategic interstellar wargame 'Imperium' - "...without exception, the best game of its kind I have seen to date". Imperium is particularly interesting to me for two reasons. First, it was the first appearance of what would become the official Traveller setting. (Traveller originally came without any setting whatsoever.) Second, the prize of my Traveller collection is the second copy ever printed of Imperium, signed and numbered by its creator.
The AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide finally makes an appearance. A sign that a typical adventure is still a classic dungeon crawl is this line from the review: "Some of the contents will no doubt be seen as spurious...in my own case I won't be using the sections about outdoor adventures". Photographs of the Games Day convention include one of Tom Meier, who sculpted some of the miniatures I've been painting recently.
Among the groups advertising for players is the 'Deptford Adult Games Group'. Oo-er.

Issue 17
Another article on miniature painting. It's clear from the materials mentioned, that painting in these days depended upon paints developed for other hobbies. Back then painting plastic Airfix Spitfires was mainstream and painting 25mm metal orcs was weird.
'The Sable Rose Affair' is a bona fide adventure for Traveller. Not just a dungeon, but a proper scenario. Layout is clever too with detailed maps and handouts printed at angles. With this issue, WD has left its glorified fanzine days behind. Interview with Runequest creator Greg Stafford.

Issue 18
Still from the Star Trek movie on the cover and a Star Trek miniatures scenario inside. An ominous advert on page 4 - TSR (UK) had arrived, something which would have major implications for White Dwarf.
A review of the Judges' Guild Traveller adventure 'Drak'ne Station'. I have this (obviously...) and think it's pretty weak, but WD gave it 8 out of 10.
A D&D 'mini-module' - WD now getting into the swing of writing full adventures that are more than just a dungeon with some monsters and traps. Another 1-100 List of Useless Items by Ian Livingstone. Pellinor and Lady_of_astolat might be interested in "13-16 Map of the Isle of Wight".

Issue 19
Criminal characters for Traveller. Bersekers for AD&D. Both pre-empting later official rules. The first GDW adventure for Traveller 'Kinunir' reviewed: "recommended without hesitation". As a Traveller collector and referee, reading reviews of other role-playing scenarios of the time - mostly simple dungeon crawls, or dungeon-crawls-in-space, makes it clear just how sophisticated 'Kinunir' was in comparison.
An article on computer-moderated play-by-mail games.

Issue 20
Interesting article on D&D stats for various historical troop types. Scouts for Traveller (pre-empting Traveller Book 6). Particularly good month for Traveller reviews - 'Dark Nebula', 'High Guard', 'The Spinward Marches' and 'Citizens of the Imperium' all well-reviewed. Traveller collecting had already started at this time - the classifieds include an ad from someone willing to pay top prices for the first issue of the Traveller magazine 'Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society'.

From:[info]philmophlegm
Date:June 12th, 2009 11:33 pm (UTC)
(Link)
Issue 21
Games Workshop advertising the opening of their second shop, in Manchester. I remember going there as a teenager not long after getting into RPGs and spending all my pocket money. More Thomas Covenant inspired stuff for AD&D. A review of the boxed Traveller game 'Azhanti High Lightning' with a complaint that the price was a bit high at £14.95. For a while, this was one of the most sought after items for Traveller collectables and prices could easily reach £60 on eBay. Big advert for 'The Tribes of Crane' which I mentioned in an earlier post - it's the game with the unrealistic population growth rates.

Issue 22
Pictures from Game Day include a few computers (Commodore PETs) being used for number crunching. WD still happy to have illustrations of chained naked ladies about to be sacrificed. Fiend Factory includes statistics for Ungoliant, without once mentioning Tolkien or The Silmarillion as the source.

Issue 23
The cover is a bit of a departure from the usual naked captive women - naked captive young boys. Hmmm.
Full page advert for Esdevium Games - they're still going. Ian Livingstone's editorial ponders how technology will affect role-playing games: "Imagine, each of the players with a hand controller watching their characters walking down a dark corridor. Around a bend and a party of vicious goblins in glorious 3-D colour appear on the screen..." I wonder if Ian Livingstone could foresee becoming chairman of the group behind Tomb Raider and Deus Ex and receiving an OBE for services to computer games.
First in a series of articles by Lew Pulsipher introducing new players to AD&D. Very strong sense that the hobby was really starting to gain in popularity now.
Interview with Traveller creator Marc Miller. He traces his career in role-playing games to 1968 - long before Gygax and Arneson invented D&D.
Reviews of 'Deities & Demigod' for AD&D (including Cthulhu and friends because this was before Call of Cthulhu) and 'Leviathan' for Traveller. The latter was written by WD's own Bob McWilliams.

Issue 24
A double-page advert for Games Workshop shows just how many games there are in April 1981. 'A Backdrop of Stars' - a guide to Traveller campaigns, and a useful article. Traveller Adventure 3: 'Twilight's Peak is reviewed. I ran this in my first Traveller campaign when I was at school. It's one of my favourite RPG campaigns, and WD agreed with me: "the best FR scenario of any kind I have seen...This is how Traveller should be - buy it. 10 out of 10".
The D&D scenario this month is 'The Lair of Maldred the Mighty'. This was re-issued in 'The Best of White Dwarf Scenarios' and I ran it in my D&D campaign. A classic high level dungeon adventure.

Issue 25
Another 10 out of 10 Traveller review for Double Adventure 2: 'Across the Bright Face / Mission on Mithril'. This was Traveller's golden age. Traveller's major competitor at the time was reviewed: 'Space Opera' - a more pulpy-take on SF than Traveller's hard SF.
While Traveller scenarios were getting increasingly sophisticated, D&D was still stuck with the traditional dungeon crawl. 'The Dungeon Architect' was the first in a series of articles on how to make better dungeons.
A guest house in Sandown is advertising D&D holidays. "Spend an uninterrupted week or two playing D&D on the Isle of Wight".
A Lew Pulsipher article on what makes "a good character class". (Not having the ninth level characters called 'rapists' for a start...)
First mention in four and a bit years of the possibility of female gamers with a classified ad from 'Boyce': "Hey girls! Play D&D? Want to learn? Female players between 13 and 17 in Edinburgh area desperately needed for new campaign." I wonder how old Boyce was and whether he managed to attract any girls to his game... Similarly, A.Kermode of Wallsend advertised for an "adventuress...preferably under 20. Come on girls, where's your new found equality?"



Edited at 2009-06-13 10:07 am (UTC)