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
Written under the spell of the bard. By now there are few surprises, you know what you are getting into. The gameable bits are very solid this issue. Consistently good tricks, items and monsters. Amazons: A fighter sub-class. The idea of creating a seperate always chaotic warrior-woman class is awesome, and bravo for recognizing the … More [Review] The Beholder #14; Holding Pattern
Beholder is starting to stabilize but shows no signs of stagnation. Innovation is attempted and articles and topics remain fresh. Unfortunately for us, the fruits of innovation are failure, more often then success. Life After Death (Graham Staplehurst): An intriguing concept that is really much broader then its allotted 3 pages allows for. The possibility … More [Review] The Beholder #13; Traders Row
The gods are kind and have provided. The missing issue is here. It is fitting irony that it is not that good. Many of the articles are haphazard. The adventure itself is very interesting. Sounds. An article on generic sounds you might find in a dungeon, with occasional effects for such things as the terrifying … More [Review] The Beholder #6; New Year’s Gift
Age of Dusk 