Review of Serendipity's Circle

This is a fan-zine devoted to, as they say, Weird Fantasy & Horror
Gaming. They cover all manners of systems and settings in their pursuit
of items to give to their readers. It comes out quarterly and at $3.00
US per issue it is a steal.

The articles and adventures in this issue ran the gamut, with material as
widely different as West End Games' Bloodshadows, an adventure with an
"X-Files" feel, character write ups of a pair of siblings suitable for
Steampunk games and an adventure for use in the Theatrix system.
There were also some new Disciplines for the game system, Chill, along with
several columns, one devoted to a favorite game of mine - Deadlands. Add
in the nineteen, 19, reviews they included and there is a remarkable
breadth and depth to this 'zine. Overall a wide variety of reviews and
adventures suitable for use in either their intended game system or a
related one. The "X-Files" inspired adventure, Out of the Mouths of
Babes written by Mike Brislawn, could easily be altered to work in
the Delta Green Milieu, as a basis of a Hunt for The Whispering Vault.
or even as an introduction to a Millenium-inspired campaign. This
flexibility shines through in all the scenarios presented here in this
issue.

I admit this is the first issue of Serendipity's Circle that I have seen.
Overall for $3.00 it is a steal, as I said in the beginning. Plenty of content, good
writing and a strong cover by Bradley K. McDevitt all added up to a
product that I have already read cover to cover more than one time. It
is laid out on legal-sized paper, folded in half with printing on both the
front and the back. The interior art ranges from excellent to
cute with examples of sketches, maps, and what looks like some clipart on
most every page. One of my current pet projects is looking for and counting
up the advertisements that are in the gaming magazines I read. In here
there are a liberal number of small company and individual ads scattered
about adding up to an eyeballed total of about 2 full pages worth. The
best percentage I have found among the magazines I read and respect.

I definitely look forward to getting more of their issues, both past and
future, as I feel this is a product that has languished in the shadows
too long. It needs to see more exposure, enough to let the world know it
exists, yet not too much so as to ruin the fan feeling of the 'zine. It
feels like it is produced by true believers in the hobby of role-playing
games and that's a good thing. Go ahead give them a try.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)