The Inside Scoop on Gaming

My digest sized, hardcover copy of this book is apparently from a first US printing in 1982. I remember seeing full size hardcover copies in bookstores during the 80's. If my memory proves correct, the larger books are exactly the same as this smaller one, with the same paper book jacket strewn with magical symbols and artifacts of a wizard at his craft. The line art inside is good but sparse, not directly associated with the text's subject, and has that distinct UK style seen in so many old issues of White Dwarf and Imagine magazines.

This game has been universally slammed, so let's start with its few good qualities. They're about sixty pages of medieval background, both historical and mythical. Having taken a few college courses and researched the subject on my own, I can say that the material is accurate to a fault, making gaming less fantastic and magical. There are some good tables on social status, warrior weapon use, and astrological affect on attributes. A few of the creatures are new, fantastical and even humorous (the Bonnacon makes farts that ignite forests). That's it though, it's all-downhill from there.

The basic system does not appear to be bad, it’s just hidden in a confused mess of text and disorganized chapters, so I can't say it's good either. The few tables are poorly formatted, and several that would help the reader are just not there. Most of the creatures are from heraldry and the authors included such odd things as two bodied lions (yes one head, two bodies) as a result. The magic system is so convoluted it is unusable. The continual reliance on astrological correspondence, for every action magical or otherwise, makes all of the rule's faults worse by making it impossible to follow any action to its end. Lastly the references to modern day religion makes even reading uncomfortable. What possible use are the combat stats for God, Satan, saints and demons at levels beyond a player group could ever hope to reach.

I got mine for $1 because I remembered it from 20 years ago and could afford to see just how bad it was. You may want to just save the buck for a 10-10-2-20 call and 20 minutes of conversing with a wrong number.

Fantasy Wargaming
Fantasy Wargaming Capsule Review by Papyrus on 09/09/02 Style: 1 (Unintelligible) Substance: 1 (I Wasted My Money) You may want to just save the buck for a 10-10-2-20 call and 20 minutes of conversing with a wrong number. Product: Fantasy Wargaming Author: Bruce Galloway Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Stein and Day Line: Cost: Page count: 300 Year published: 1981 ISBN: SKU: Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Papyrus on 09/09/02 Genre tags: Fantasy Historical	My digest sized, hardcover copy of this book is apparently from a first US printing in 1982. I remember seeing full size hardcover copies in bookstores during the 80's. If my memory proves correct, the larger books are exactly the same as this smaller one, with the same paper book jacket strewn with magical symbols and artifacts of a wizard at his craft. The line art inside is good but sparse, not directly associated with the text's subject, and has that distinct UK style seen in so many old issues of White Dwarf and Imagine magazines. This game has been universally slammed, so let's start with its few good qualities. They're about sixty pages of medieval background, both historical and mythical. Having taken a few college courses and researched the subject on my own, I can say that the material is accurate to a fault, making gaming less fantastic and magical. There are some good tables on social status, warrior weapon use, and astrological affect on attributes. A few of the creatures are new, fantastical and even humorous (the Bonnacon makes farts that ignite forests). That's it though, it's all-downhill from there. The basic system does not appear to be bad, it’s just hidden in a confused mess of text and disorganized chapters, so I can't say it's good either. The few tables are poorly formatted, and several that would help the reader are just not there. Most of the creatures are from heraldry and the authors included such odd things as two bodied lions (yes one head, two bodies) as a result. The magic system is so convoluted it is unusable. The continual reliance on astrological correspondence, for every action magical or otherwise, makes all of the rule's faults worse by making it impossible to follow any action to its end. Lastly the references to modern day religion makes even reading uncomfortable. What possible use are the combat stats for God, Satan, saints and demons at levels beyond a player group could ever hope to reach. I got mine for $1 because I remembered it from 20 years ago and could afford to see just how bad it was. You may want to just save the buck for a 10-10-2-20 call and 20 minutes of conversing with a wrong number.

Fantasy Wargaming