The end approaches. Issue #24 is back in high spirits, with tonnes of gameable content, an ambitious adventure and only a handful of Space Opera articles to dilute the mixture. A fine ride for a fine, obscure magazine from the golden age of D&D. Fantasy as she is writ.Article with statts for monsters from Lotr … More [Review] The Beholder #24; Going down swinging
A fine issue of the Beholder. The foreword reveals that I was not the only one to have been incensed by last issue’s glut of Space Opera content and this one is All D&D again babyyyy! Wooooh! Emblems.Proposed minor magical item that would work as a modification to an existing item. Each emblem would have … More [Review] The Beholder #23; Grand Hurrah
The end approaches. The useful articles are dwindling, the dross is increasing, the adventure quality is losing altitude. Still, perhaps braver men then I will get something out of this issue. Space Opera.Gushing review of a now obscure rpg system, in its time the Traveller killer, apparently wiped out by the advent of WEG Star … More [Review] The Beholder #22; Parabola
The last five issues of the Beholder are in sight. #21 has a surfeit of gameable content but something of the freshness of the earlier days has departed. Most of the material is on par. The increased amount of Traveller articles and even a Chivalry & Sorcery article is an interesting data point in the … More [Review] The Beholder #21; Christmas Issue
Hopefully the worst issue of Beholder. Instead of delicious Gygaxian building blocks that can be pitched immediately into one’s game the first heralds of the Black Age of Trad gaming are upon us. Sick cover though. Developing Campaign Peoples (Will Stephenson): Well intentioned article that functions as a checklist, giving you a list of attributes … More [Review] The Beholder #20; Worst of the Best
A panacea. A titillation to the old school sensibilities. An invigorating fire. Beholder, my recourse my strength! Aid me now! Chests: Clickbaity mini-article with 10 tricks and traps to put in or on chests. I like the infinite monster one or having the chest be a giant decanter of endless water but most of these … More [Review] The Beholder #19; In which the ‘are orcs racist’ debate is decisively settled
Some signs of wear and tear. The previously bountiful stores of magic items and bestiaries have run dry. The people grow content, and spend their days pondering their own achievements. Tunnels of Tungan playtest: Still a pretty interesting play report, I’ll take it. The decision to skip over large sections of boring content and simply … More [Review] Beholder #18; Harnmaxxing
Another day another Beholder Review. A regrettable lack of Magic Jar and few monsters, but interesting observations in some of the articles and results from polls of the readership. Blank spaces and reviews galore. A little aenemic compared to the usual. Don’t Panic (Graham Staplehurst): Additional Aliens for The Cosmic Encounter Board game with a … More [Review] The Beholder #17; Sub-surface
No signs of stopping in this one. Whoah. Monster Summoning: Every issue is a new delight, followed by a groan of despair at the lack of XP in the otherwise immaculate AD&D statt blocks. There’s always one monster that is clever but not so weird it seems out of place against a backdrop of Monster … More [Review] The Beholder #16; The Devil’s Quagmire
We’ve past the halfway marker boys. Very fresh issue. The covers keep improving. Rolling NPCs: Curious table for the generation of NPCs for classes with ability score minimums using only d100s. In an age of abundant random generation methodology this is quaint but one can imagine this would have saved some GMs a couple of … More [Review] The Beholder #15; Fresh Air in the Tunnels
Age of Dusk 