'Open Box' is a collection of reviews, focusing on two wargames: SPI's Sorcerer and Avalon Hill's Starship Troopers. I know that the Monstermark System has a solid reputation among fans of D&D, so I have little doubt that Turnbull had come up something worthy of consideration. Truth be told, I've never seen much use for this kind of evaluation, but I readily concede that I'm probably unusual in not caring about such matters. Honestly, I have little basis for evaluating the the utility of the system, since I've never used it. The initial task of designing the starship and its contents is lengthy – unless your players want to play for the next four years solid, I suggest a smaller starship (same number of decks). Don Turnbull's 'Monstermark System' presents a complex mathematical system for assessing the relative challenge of a D&D monsters relative to others (and to the level of player characters). There are not many but just enough to irritate. More interestingly, Livingstone offers some criticisms and suggestions for improvement.īack to the rules themselves and criticisms. However, the article is more than that, offering new rules for gravitation, as well as discussions of stories like Robert Heinlein's Orphans of the Sky and Non-Stop by Brian Aldiss that influenced the game's creation.

For the most part, the article is simply an overview of the TSR RPG of the same name. The very first article to appear is entitled 'Metamorphosis Alpha,' written by Ian Livingstone, the magazine's editor and co-founder of Games Workshop. This is telling and should be borne in mind as this series goes forward. The only other third party publications mentioned in that section are those by Judges Guild.

Remember, too, that the AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide explicitly references White Dwarf in a section entitled 'Aids to Playing Advanced Dungeons & Dragons,' mentioned by side by side with Dragon.

I think that's significant, because it's a useful reminder of just how early it appeared in the history of the hobby. Issue #1 is listed as June/July 1977, which is one year after the first issue of TSR's Dragon appeared. That's why, after the cessation of my examination of Different Worlds, I knew that my next series would be dedicated to White Dwarf. Consequently, I have no direct knowledge of the magazine's early days, which I imagine were pretty wild and woolly. Likewise, when I did read it more regularly, it wasn't until late 1982, long after White Dwarf was well established and had settled into a comfortable run. It's a RPG magazine that I only read intermittently back in the day and so my memories of it are not as vivid as those of Dragon. I've talked about my experiences with White Dwarfbefore.

White dwarf magazine issue 1 pdf