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Welcome to the first issue of BEHOLD!

Heartfelt thanks to everyone, for all the drawings, articles and ideas contributed. As you can see, we have managed to put together quite a substantial magazine. Hopefully, we will able to make BEHOLD! a monthly or at least bimonthly publication.

Since this is the first editorial, I will give you a quick guided tour of BEHOLD! Many of you will recognize the titles Rotan News and Game Guide, from the old AD&D newsletters. These were both popular features and will be continuing in BEHOLD! Hotline replaces the venue list and provides you with a handy telephone number and address list on the back page. Any up-and-coming events will be announced here, too.

The article In Character will appear each issue, and will give you information on a selected character from one of the game systems. In this issue, we have chosen Souriin Draco for the article, since he is the longest running character in all the game systems. Fiction Feature showcases stories set in the campaign worlds in which we are playing. In this issue, there are two Fiction Features. The Early Days is about young Souriin Draco and life at his parents' farm. Euvgeni is the first part of the story of young Euvgeni Maryamitrevnavich, and his life in the forests.

This, being the first issue of BEHOLD!, has a distinct slant towards AD&D. This is because I have a vast pool of existing material for AD&D which has been collected over the last two years. The other systems have not been left out though, and hopefully, next issue we will have more of everything.

I hope you enjoy BEHOLD!, and if you do, it will be back next month.

Anthony Brooks

2    Editorial
3    Rotan News  Headlines from around the world in this rather unusual issue of the Rotan News.
4    Fiction Feature: The Early Days  An old friend pays an unexpected visit.
6    The Possibility Wars  An introduction to Torg, a multi-genre roleplaying game.
8    Rhythm of the Deep  Can you hear the Call of Cthulhu? A look at this classic horror setting.
9    Three Easy Steps to Earn $5,000,000  Yes, you've guessed it, an article about Paranoia.
10    Fiction Feature: Euvgeni (Part 1)  The first part in the story of young Euvgeni.
12    A Long Time Ago... A quick introduction to the Star Wars universe.
13    A Short Time Ahead...  What do you get if you mix cybernetics with fantasy?
14    AD&D Game Guide (Part 1)  A reprint of the early adventures in and around Rotan.
15    In Character: Souriin Draco  The first in our series of character descriptions.
16    Hotline  The answers to Who? Where? What? and When?

Cover: In our very first piece of cover art, Medley, Dominik Wysocki has combined a distinctive someone or something from each of the six games we play, to give an impressive overall effect.

Owing to circumstances beyond the control of the editors of this magazine, we are unable to bring you a copy of the Rotan News this issue. Instead, we present headlines from around the world. Hopefully, the Rotan News will be back next issue.
 

I had a bad foreboding about this night. I was in the woods, as usual, practising the meagre arts that I had managed to pick up by myself from the book I had "borrowed" from my father's study. The ancient elms that surrounded me obscured any miscasts that might otherwise have been seen. With a flutter of wings, the great owl settled above to watch over me as usual. I somehow knew that my father was aware of my little escapades, and that the owl was there not only to protect me, but also to observe my progress.

As I was preparing the apparatus, a flare went up to the south, announcing that someone had entered the farm unwelcomed. Archimedes' eyes glazed over for a moment, and he shot up, his giant wings carrying him silently towards the source of light. I waited only a minute before the first shadows appeared. Three figures, whispering in some rash tongue were trying to rip something from one another's hands. Soon, a dozen or so figures joined them in the ever loudening quarrel. Only after a while did I notice a shadow, darker and colder than the rest, descend in their midst. There was a searing flash of crimson flame, a squeal, a thud and a smell of burning flesh. The light revealed dozens of orcs with fear on their faces. Someone barked a sharp command and the orcs scrambled into ranks. Just as suddenly, Archimedes was there, his intelligent expression urging me to run. There was a rustle in the bush in front of me and an orc jumped out, grabbing me before I could do anything else. Seconds later he was on the ground, clutching his shredded face, as Archimedes recovered from his attack. I pressed the amulet hanging around my neck and felt the magic activate as it crumbled to dust.

I found myself staring at the great mirror in my father's musky study. There was a low roar and the whole house shuddered. I found my mother crying in the main chamber. Careful not to alert her, I crept outside and hid in the tomato patch.

The earth in front of the house was scorched in a twenty foot radius. There were blackened smoking body parts in melted armour lying around. Far in the distance, there was another flash of crimson light and orcs came running and yelping towards our house. There were about thirty this time. They were close to our house when a sharp command issued from nowhere surprised the panicked creatures. My father's form faded into view as lightning crackled from the tip of the thin stick he was pointing at the orcs. The flash engulfed the foremost orcs and bounded onto the next ones, spreading in size as it travelled. The orcs that survived turned, ran in the opposite direction and died as the next bolt reached them. By then, the ground was covered with the bodies of at least fifty orcs.

I was about to spring out of the patch when a chilling laugh froze me. It oozed with evil as it bubbled ahead of us. My father was shocked. "Omadan!" was all he could utter. The same shadow I saw earlier detached itself from the darkness. Even in the dim light of the porch lantern, only the man's face clearly stood out. On it you could see hatred and evil glowing. "I see you are alive and well. You have not changed much, old friend," he said. Crimson flames flared once again from the wand he was holding. They hit an invisible barrier about a foot from my father and spread in a spherical shape. Lightning flared once again, but he was not there any more. A whisper came from somewhere and the shield around my father went out with a loud pop. Father began to cast a spell, but crimson flames struck him before he had a chance to complete it. He staggered and fell in a heap as Omadan became visible once again.

As I sat there in shock, he walked up to me with triumph on his face and picked me up effortlessly. There was a humming noise behind me, and I was dropped onto the ground as several voices simultaneously cast their spells. Omadan also cast his spell, but as he completed it, a light shot towards his head, blinding him. He resisted the rest of the spells that I knew not to be lethal because I was so near. One of the spells transported me next to one of the mages I recognised as Artex.

Then Omadan's spell took effect and two very young looking white dragons swooped down, one coming to fight, the other grabbing Omadan as the light about his head went out. As the dragon flew overhead, I heard the wind whisper: "I will be back for you, young one. Then my revenge will be complete."

As some of the mages finished the dragon, others scanned the sky with their crystal balls, but Omadan seemed to have disappeared. As for him returning; right after the incident, father sent me to the Academy of Mages to train and protect me, so I guess Omadan never had his chance.

Tome of Magic from TSR

Prepare for a massive dose of magic! Yes, the Tome of Magic is set for release at the end of September, and will contain loads more magic for the AD&D game. The 152 page book contains 86 new wizard spells, 141 new priest spells and over 90 new magic items. There are also many new magic rules and a new class of "Quest" spells.

Eric by Terry Pratchett (A Discworld novel)                                                                               Fantamania price: R 17.99

Rincewind and the Luggage are back in the latest Discworld novel. A demonology hacker named Eric tries to call up a demon to grant him three wishes and gets Rincewind and the Luggage instead. With them, Eric begins a ride through space and time that makes him wish again - this time that he'd never been born. Available in September.

The other Discworld novels are, in order: The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Equal Rites, Mort, Sourcery, Wyrd Sisters, Pyramids and Guards! Guards!

Later today, early tomorrow, sometime next week... the world began to end.

The day turned to night, submerged beneath dark clouds and rumbling thunder. A storm filled the sky, bloated with poisonous rain. And the storm had a name...

Torg.

The possibility wars had begun. The raiders came from other cosms, bitter enemies joined together to steal the awesome energy of Earth's possibilities. They brought with them their own realities, turning portions of the Earth into someplace else.

All that stood between the invaders and total victory were the stormers, men and women who weathered the violent reality storms, never yielding to the realities of the raiders. A select few of these became storm knights, carrying the battle back to Earth's deadly foes.

The invaders came in order to strip the earth of its enormous amounts of possibility energy. The invasion was coordinated by the Gaunt Man, High Lord of Orrorsh, one of the invading cosms. Earth was too large a prize for even so powerful a High Lord, so the Gaunt Man contacted others to help him invade Earth.

He contacted Baruk Kaah with his primitive reality, a reality higher in spiritual energies than any other cosm. The Gaunt Man cajoled Uthorian, once his chief officer and now lord of the fantasy cosm of Aysle, into participating in the invasion, although Lord Uthorian was suspicious and had plans of his own. Another of the Gaunt Man's ex-lieutenants, now High Lord of the techno-horror realm, was invited to join and accepted in light of recent setbacks. Pope Jean Malraux I, High Lord and antipope of a dark, medieval world, was asked in by both Uthorian and the Gaunt Man. Through an elaborate maze of contacts, the Lord of Orrorsh contacted Dr. Mobius, the insane genius who proclaims himself Pharaoh of a reality where the Nile Empire still exists. Finally, a series of complex, tense and expensive negotiations with the Kanawa Corporation brought the Nippon Tech cosm into the plan.

Enough about the invasion, on to the roleplaying possibilities. There are pregenerated character templates which you, the players, can use or customize to suit the character you would like to play. The player characters are all Storm Knights.

In West End Games' "TORG" there are an infinite amount of possibilities that can occur, and that is the beauty of this game product. It combines the action of the pulps, the heroic adventure of fantasy, and the grim situations of future technology into one all-encompassing game system with a coherent storyline. There is something for every quirk, quark and roleplayer. Although it cannot replace Cthulhu, AD&D or Shadowrun in their own genres, it does offer players the unique opportunity to gauge the relative strengths of magic verses technology, the mind verses the spirit or, if you prefer, technologically enhanced bodies verses the repertoire of an Elven sorcerer.

Attributes and Skills
All characters have the same attributes (base scores), but not in the same quantities. All characters also have skills, but types of skills vary from character to character. Skills are rated by adds, which is the number you add to your character's base attribute to get the value for that skill. So a character with a base attribute of 10 and a running skill add of 3 would have a running value of 13.

The Die Roll
Only one die is used, the twenty sided die. If on a die roll, a 10 or 20 is rolled, the die is rolled again, adding the next roll to the previous number of 10 or 20. This is done to obtain a final die roll number.

Generating a Total
Once the final die roll has been established, a table is consulted to find the bonus number which corresponds to that particular roll. This bonus is added to the skill value, to get an action total.

Beating Difficulty Numbers
As in all systems some actions are harder than others. Whenever the gamemaster calls for an action total he assigns a difficulty number for the deed. Obviously, to succeed at the task, a total higher than the difficulty number must be generated. Simple, isn't it?

Possibility Energy
Storm Knights can store possibility energy, energy which can temporarily alter the world around them in a variety of ways to allow characters to perform amazing feats. Possibility energy is used to fire a high-tech sub-machine gun in a fantasy location, for example.

The Axioms
Each of the invading realms has its own reality. This is the key to what can and cannot exist and to what does and does not work in that realm. Each realm has different axioms, which describe four basic traits of that world: magical, social, spiritual and technological. If an axiom is not high enough to support an activity, performing that activity creates a contradiction in that realm. The possibility energy of the realm is organised so as to enforce the axiom levels, eliminating contradictions. The immediate effect of the axiom laws is that equipment, spells and certain creatures foreign to a realm will not work in that realm, unless a character uses his own possibility energy to make them possible.

Those are the basics. You are now ready to roleplay in the possibility wars and take a stand against the foreign invaders of Earth...

Orrorsh from West End Games

The secrets of the Gaunt Man's realm are unlocked. This TORG accessory is packed with information on Orrorsh, TORG's horror realm. The realm is a perfect ecology of fear, with strange magics and creatures which will set your teeth on edge.

The Space Gods from West End Games

Finally, it is possible to discover why Earth is central to the Possibility Wars. South America, which, up till now was thought not to have any invading realms, is host to a realm which boasts the highest technology level of any reality. This accessory includes information on star travel, psionics and the Comeghaz, an enemy unknown to even the High Lords.

In the heart of the ocean, my Master lies. His anguished heartbeat throbs though the depths... reaching... reaching out for his servants, his children...

... trying to bring his new world, the hope of ages. Oh, the glory of Atlantis, now his prison. How he anguishes, and travails that his new, bright world will never, ever be, while he lies at the bottom of the ocean...

And so he calls, the rhythm of his heart. His voice seems strange at first; his thoughts without reason. But soon, soon, you will begin to understand my Master.

And so, he calls: Du-dum! Du-dum! From the ocean deep, hear his heart, sense his longing. Reach out with your mind. Hear the call, the eternal call. Will you hear the call, the call of Cthulhu?

Unknown Cultist

He stops and shivers as he recollects. "And the statues, they were the worst. Hatred. Pure and evil it radiated from them. Vengeance and fear, pure fear. But that was nothing. It got weirder. Our ancestors, they kept trying to come back. Have you ever seen an eighteenth century sailor try to drive? Then we found the woman. At least, she found us. That strange symbol. Her chaste grin. Her mad ramblings. We went to her house. We didn't know it would be there. How could we?"

His voice almost breaks and is etched with fear. "We didn't know what the rats were for, at least not at first. Huge cage, filled with 'em. But then we noticed the stink. Sure, the rats were bad, but this, this was worse. Then we heard the baby cry."

His voice becomes hushed, his eyes wide with terror. "I felt?... it was hungry. Held it to my chest."

He is breathing faster. His eyes take on the look of a hunted animal. "The pain! And... and I couldn't do anything. If it wasn't for my companions...? They pulled it away. And its tongue came out!"

Call of Cthulhu: Horror roleplaying at its best. The game setting produces a true mood of horror, with terrifying creatures of the night about which you know absolutely nothing; and Cthulhu cultists that will make your blood coagulate in your veins.

The Cthulhu setting is based on reality, with plenty of added horror and a touch of fantasy sprinkled in. Cthulhu characters worry more about sanity points than about hit points, and always risk that bit of schizophrenia (or baby-phobia)! The rules can be learned very easily, simply by playing; even the most inexperienced roleplayers can take part with great fervour. After all, you just roleplay normal guys and Cthulhu is just a myth and doesn't really exist, right?

Not for the faint of heart, Cthulhu is the game of your deepest nightmares!

Imagine a world without jealousy. Imagine a world where everybody (of equal security clearance) is equal, where everybody is happy (happiness is mandatory), living under the just and loving hand of the COMPUTER. This is the kind of life you can expect in a game called Paranoia. (Computer Note: If the title "Paranoia" hints at anything except a life in utopia, do not worry. It was just a plot started by the commies to discredit the great COMPUTER. They have been dealt with accordingly.)

As you begin your first adventure, you will realise that out of care for your health and well-being, the COMPUTER has given you six - yes - six clones to use. (This is probably because your life expectancy is more or less from the time you first open your mouth, to the first time you draw your weapon, which is about one minute. OH NO! - BOOM! - "This is Warbot K5-874 WAR speaking. Please ignore the last statement. It was issued by a traitor, who has since met his demise.") In fact, you soon realise that you are the COMPUTER's most trusted servants. You are the elite troubleshooters, and your duty is to shoot trouble - umm, I mean to find trouble and report it to your superiors.

To help your in your duty, many confession booths line the walls of the buildings. These are used for a number of purposes. For example, if you feel the need, you can confess another person's sins to the COMPUTER; or, if your suspicions are strong enough, you can force someone to take a lie detector test. In case of an emergency, the wires connected to your head to take the lie detector test can serve as electrodes - and electrocution is not something that your next clone is likely to forget quickly.

Many foes stand ready to bar you from completing your duty - communists, mutants and secret societies, to name but a few. (The fact that you all begin the game possessing a mutant power and belonging to a secret society has nothing whatsoever to do with...BOOM!) But do not despair! At PL & C, the COMPUTER will provide you with enough firepower to tackle any commie you will encounter. Also Research and Design (R & D) will make sure you are equipped with the latest equipment science has to offer. (Have you heard the latest joke? Is it a bird? Is it a plane, screaming through the air? No, it's an overzealous troubleshooter with R & D rocket shoes. Heh, heh. Oh no, not again. BOOM!)

So remember, the next time you play Paranoia, watch your security clearance, keep everyone in front of you, say nothing, do nothing, pretend you are doing something, pretend to do it legally and openly, chew your food carefully, keep your finger on the fire-button, shoot anyone who even smells like a commie and hope you get your post-termination voucher. (Down with the compu... BOOM!)

And don't forget, "Trust the COMPUTER. The COMPUTER is your friend." (They made me say it, honestly!!)

[* This article does not in any way guarantee the gain of the above-mentioned sum of money. In fact, this article was titled after it had been written, suggesting that the writer had absolutely nothing to do with this miserable attempt to entice innocent readers to read his article. Any complaints should therefore be addressed to the editor of the magazine.]

Next issue: In the next issue of BEHOLD! we will take a look at some of the Paranoia accessories which will be on release soon. Look out for details of the R & D Catalog and, believe it or not, a Paranoia novel, called Extreme Paranoia: Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Shot.

Euvgeni Maryamitrevnavich: A short history

(Fade in light to dark. Sound of a hammer hitting iron rhythmically. Camera looks down a wide, open street with oak trees along the sides. Camera moves down the street and moves forward, turning slowly towards the hammering sound. The edge of an open shop enters the frame, the hammering sound becomes sharper. A tall frosty-haired man is seen hitting a horseshoe.)

"Manieh, wabra crato yehfreg?" A man walks into the shop.
"Halbib nontwa eh Quator ora," the silvery haired man replies.
[For the comfort of readers, the author has decided to dub this story into the common tongue, so if there are any synchronization problems with the words and mouth movements, we apologise. The last scene will be replayed for the readers' benefit]

"Hello, is it ready?"
"In about four hours."
The man continues to beat the shoe, until finally he dunks it in a barrel of water. Steam pours out of the barrel, the shoe is pulled out and the smith inspects the shoe and gives a nod of satisfaction. There is a small boy of about twelve years working on another shoe deeper in the shop.
"Euvgeni, you can stop now. Panagiotis, take over from Euvgeni. Finish that weapon tomorrow, I want the shoes ready today. Euvgeni, you can go and play now." The boy stops his work and hands the hammer over to another man, obviously Panagiotis. The boy runs out of the shop and shouts:
"I'm going to the forest! See you at home papa!" He turns and runs off down the road.

(High angle. Track. Back lighting. Scene: dense forest; oaks, conifers. Alternating light bands and dark bands of forest.)

The chuckles and laughter of young boys pervades the natural silence of the forest. They seem to be playing tag in the forest. A smallish boy of about twelve is "it". He has thick black hair, and a black bandanna is placed around his eyes. There are three other kids, all of whom are slightly older and bigger. "It" is tensed, with both arms spread out in front of him. He darts left then right, both boys are surprised by the speed of the manoeuvre, and both are "tagged". Unfortunately, one of the two boys rather clumsily smashes his head into a tree trunk. The fourth boy moves into the shadows and watches the others. The new "it's" both put bandannas on and lunge at the younger boy, he easily evades the reaching fingers, turns and runs straight into the forest, dodging uprooted trees and overhanging branches. Three of the boys run off into the forest, while the fourth boy stays waiting for something. He is nervous, his eyes dart left and right. He shuffles deeper into the tree's concave trunk. His eyes peer into the moving shadows, seeking a sign. Finally a crack of a twig (Yes, the inevitable twig cracking giveaway) catches the attention of the boy. A tall, dark shape appears in the small clearing. It is man-sized, and moves directly towards the boy's hide-out. The boy tries to hide even deeper in the tree.

"Well?" The man-thing's voice is surprisingly deep and very harsh as if it had difficulty in speaking Common. The word came out with a guttural growl.
"Where's my money?" The boy asks, rather courageously, considering the beast is three times his size. The man-thing's "hand" comes out of its dark robes, clutching a small pouch. The boy snatches out and grabs the pouch. Eagerly, he counts the coins, assuring himself that it is the correct amount. Satisfied that it is, he produces another pouch which the man-thing snatches as eagerly as the boy did. Its "hands" struggle with the intricacies of the pouch, but eventually it manages to extract four small, insignificant colourless stones. Its "hands" close around the stones. It issues a satisfactory grunt as it evaluates the stones. "When the moon has waxed three times, I will return." The boy nods nervously. If anyone had looked closely enough they would have seen trickles of sweat rolling down the sides of the boy's head, and it is not hot deep in the forest. The boy relaxes distinctly as the man-thing turns and vanishes into nothingness...

(Camera on shoulders, reality shot as seen from eyes. Branches whip into the camera lens)

The three boys rush off into the forest, all three sure-footed as they rush past trees and narrowly miss overhanging branches. The smaller boy begins to extend his lead as his natural abilities begin to play a determining factor. This is Euvgeni, the son of a blacksmith, who is now beginning his teenage years.  A branch further up is gloating over its brilliant plan. "The boy won't know what hit him," the tree gloats. Unfortunately, for the tree that is, it is not aware of the savage and inhuman element in Euvgeni's personality. (This streak had not surfaced before because there was no need for such extremities.) As the boy reaches the aforementioned branch, it lashes out towards his eyes, hoping to blind him. Euvgeni instinctively opens his hand, shoots it up at the branch and offhandedly rips the branch off the trunk. He then grips the trunk, and with superhuman strength uproots the small irritation. He stops and looks at his hands in fear and wonderment, not believing what he has just witnessed. (About this time the man-thing has vanished.) A loud crashing sound can be heard behind the boy, as the two older boys crash through a bush and topple to the ground at Euvgeni's feet. They both get up rather sheepishly and dust themselves off. They then enter a state of complete and utter apoplexy as their eyes and brain begin to take in the current position of the twelve foot, uprooted pine tree.

" Gaa-- bra--- urp uggh--" (Who authorized that manoeuvre?)
Voynrea, for so one of the boys was named, managed to communicate with the motor mechanics section of his brain, and being the son of an important member of the tribe gave an eloquent, succinct and ever so officious remark: "It seems to me that we have a situation in which most or all of the facts have decided to take an early retirement. (Not to mention the laws of physics.)" A most mature statement from such a young mind, but of course he had the highest I.Q. in the village. This was contrasted by the other boy... "Why is a tree growing outside of the ground?" The other boy did not have any I.Q. to speak of but rather a Q.I. (questionable intelligence).

After all three of the boys had recovered from the shock of the moment they decided to remain quiet about the event and go back to the village. It occurred to them someone was missing, so they went home via the small clearing. Having reached the clearing and finding no trace of Alachrinn, they went back to the village...

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a great adventure took place...

Just over a year ago, four gallant adventurers braved the wrath of the Empire, the dangers of hyperspace and the unknown factors of vast galaxies when they joined the Rebellion, to rid all planets of the scourge of the Empire's tyranny.

Since that fateful day, twenty adventures have been played, and as of yet none of the gallant heroes have become one with the Force. (Sagar seems to have come close on many occasions, though.) Star Wars is a roleplaying system based on the movie trilogy, and made popular by the simplicity of its rules.

Over many fun-filled hours of roleplaying we have introduced new people to roleplaying, and new systems to old players...

"You roll a one! With great success, you reduce the door to splinters, and enter a ten by ten by ten room. The sight of a huge slobbering monster greets you - what do you do?"
"Start casting!"
"Draw both my +5 swords."
"Sneak around the back."
"Start praying!"
"Hey, that's my job, you're supposed to be singing!"

Szew, szew, BOOM! There are sounds of many armoured forms running down the corridor. The group rolls a one, and are all surprised, as a huge black-furred gorilla with a strange crossbow dashes into the room. Slung over one shoulder is a battered human form. The gorilla is followed by a intent-looking man, wielding a beam of light (obviously a +10 slayer of all things). Bringing up the rear is a person carrying numerous shiny metal trinkets and a strange wand, which sprouts fire erratically. At his side, is a giant metal mushroom which beeps and whines and glides along on wheels.

The furry black thing lets out a grunt-like bellow upon seeing the horrid beast. He pulls out a fist-sized metal ball and throws it towards the monster. The beast gives a quizzical look, peers down at the sphere, and is disrupted at a molecular level as the thermal detonator explodes.

The strangers continue running through, roaring, beeping, zapping and yelling. They proceed down the
corridor opposite. The smoke clears, the last bits of monster splatter to the ground, and silence reasserts itself. The fighter looks up.

"So, how much experience do we get for that?"

Cracken's Rebel Field Guide from West End Games

This Star Wars supplement explains the many unusual technologies of the Star Wars universe, while giving players tips on how to alter and use that technology during their missions. Contains numerous technical illustrations and rules for jury-rigging, cybernetics and computer information. 80-page book.

THUMP! "Damn trid unit, always changing channels like that. Must get it fixed."

The image on the trid projector wavers and clears as the channel six anchorman's holographic image reforms. He hated those multi-genre movies. Whoever heard of a two and a half metre furry black thing carrying people and throwing grenades. Ridiculous! 2050 A.D. and there isn't any decent entertainment.

He switches on the holo-window, and looks out at the sprawling metroplex with huge scrapers and arcologies obscuring the sun. Their shadows stretch across the city, leaving alleys in stark darkness. He was unused to this environment, but he would find them. He pictured in his mind the tall Amerindian Eagle shaman; the two mages; the slickly dressed razorguy; the wayward Amerindian warrior, and the strange Japanese adept. Soon they would be his!

Shadowrun is one of the newest systems in play (just before Cthulhu). It is a multi-genre setting, combining magic and machines in 2050. Cybernetics makes street samurai formidable foes, and combined with street mages and powerful magic, it makes Shadowrun a deadly system indeed.

The setting for Shadowrun is Earth in 2050. In the early twenty-first century, approximately one fifth of all humanity mutates into other meta-human races. This is caused by the sudden return of magic after a lull of a few thousand years. Humans mutate into elves, orks, dwarves and trolls, together with a few rarer breeds not available to players. In addition, many animals also mutate to form creatures such as cockatrices. Earth is controlled by huge corporations, run by boards of directors from all of the meta-human races (and even sometimes dragons). Added to this background is the presence of cyberware and magic. Cyberware ranges from "data-jacks" (which allow characters to jack into vast, complex computer networks) to enhanced reflexes, which give characters super-fast reactions.

Players can also play mages and shamans, and learn how to alter the flow of "mana" (magic) to suit their own needs. All player characters are "Shadowrunners" - people who do not work for the megacorps, but instead slide through the shadows between them and trade in the most valuable commodity of all in 2050 - information.

With the dealings of the mafia, connivings of dragons, subtle betrayal of the elves and the powerful manipulation of major corporations, Shadowrun is indeed a game with an intriguing and exotic setting.

The Secrets of Power trilogy by Robert N. Charette

Never Deal with a Dragon, Choose Your Enemies Carefully and Find Your Own Truth

This series is recommended reading for anyone interested in the Shadowrun game setting. The three books follow the travels and experiences of a young man, Samuel Verner, as he changes from a content corporate employee to a Shadowrunner. The books give a very accurate view of life in the Shadowrun world, and include an element of all the things which make up the game: Magic, Cyberware and of course, Dragons.

Much of the material in the AD&D Game Guide has been published before, in a slightly different format. The old Game Guides have been updated, checked and revised. They also now include quotes and snippets of information from the memoirs of the late Opand Rupdel, entitled The Chronicles of Opand Rupdel. They are dedicated to you, the players, in the hope that they ring a few bells.
 

Game 1: In the Beginning

Featuring: Souriin Draco, Casoe Quantamine, Slyoak Woodguard, Vraytar Zythorac and a monk of unrecorded name.

"The adventurers have been summoned to the temple by Sepyt Niam and have been well fed and looked after for the past few days. Now they have been summoned to dinner with the High Priest himself - an honour indeed!"

So begins the first page of my campaign notes. After the meal, Sepyt told the group what their task was: to fetch the first part of a strange device called the Rod of Time. This task forms the background of the campaign setting. To date, six of the seven parts have been located and collected, but the search continues. The monk character died during the first game, when he single handedly took on a Shambling Mound. The rest of the characters successfully reached the tree village Willapá, where the first part of the rod was located.

Creatures encountered: Orcs, Giant Owls, a Shambling Mound and Giant Porcupines.
Game dates: 1/11/92 - 28/11/92
 

Game 2: A Piece of Rod

Featuring: Tekuna Chand, Souriin Draco, Shadow Kaylar, Casoe Quantamine, Slyoak Woodguard, Mort Wuntie and Vraytar Zythorac.

A few new characters put in an appearance in the second game. The group entered the tiny tree village Willapá, and successfully killed a large bear which had been plaguing the villagers. In return they were given the first part of the rod. Mort Wuntie died in a boating accident on the river during the game, but returned later (in Game 16), to pay respects to his erstwhile companions.

Creatures encountered: A Brown Bear, Dinosaurs - Archeron (Ischryras) and a Ghoul.
Game Dates: 28/11/92 - 19/12/92
 

Game 3: Rotan Again

Featuring: Tekuna Chand, Souriin Draco, Shadow Kaylar and Slyoak Woodguard.

In the third game, the group returned to Rotan, where they met once more with Sepyt Niam. Casoe and Vraytar left the group, to go on a separate journey north. The remaining heroes journeyed to Stigler, on the way meeting a Hill Giant. This encounter cured Sirventé (a horse) of his fear of narrow places, but forced the group to take a more round about route to Stigler. In the meantime, Casoe and Vraytar began a separate journey northwestwards towards Meldora.

Creatures encountered: A Hill Giant.
Game Dates: 19/12/92 - 26/12/92

Next issue: Opand Rupdel joins the group, and they somehow manage to kill a Wyvern.

Character: Souriin Draco
Race: Human (as far as can be determined)
Alignment: Neutral Good
Class: Wizard (Mage)
Level: 8

Alternate Identities: Wacko Draco, Lord Draco, Raven Mage
Family: Garulithis Draco (Father), Erona Thane (Mother)
Enemies: Mecton, Omadan (deceased), Athalar, Widapa (maybe), Time-Riders and others.

Game Statistics: STR 8, DEX 8, CON 16, INT 18, WIS 9, CHA 8. Hit points: 38

Description: Souriin Draco is a six foot tall, male human, weighing 155 pounds. He is in his early thirties. He has jet black hair, and sometimes sports a beard and moustache. He has brown eyes. His usual garb is a long gown, but he has recently taken to wearing a more practical tunic. He usually carries a dagger or two, and is proficient with a sling as well. He is a reasonably good engineer and designed the lethal gutting dagger. Souriin is good with languages, speaking Orcish, Goblin, Dwarven and Elven in addition to his Common home-tongue. He is allergic to some forms of sulphur.

Background: Souriin was born on a sprawling farm on the Northern border of Rotan. After one particularly dangerous incident at the farm (see Fiction Feature: The Early Days in this issue), he was sent to the guild of mages in Rotan city, to nurture his skills at the arts of magic. During his lengthy travels, he has visited many places on the continent (and recently elsewhere too). Souriin's current interests are: A large sheep farm just within Rotan's borders, trying to unravel the mystery of his parentage, and trying to find out where he is at the moment.

Magic: Amongst Souriin's favourite spells are the following: First level: Magic Missile and Feather Fall (just in case). Second level: Web, Melf's Acid Arrow and Hypnotic Pattern. Third Level: Lightning Bolt and Fly. Fourth Level: Polymorph Self and Polymorph Self. Souriin eagerly awaits the day when he is able to cast the Teleport spell.

Souriin once owned the powerful Staff of the Magi, which was given to him by the mother of the forest as a token of her gratitude. He collects magic rings, of which his favourite is the Ring of Invisibility (this is an unusual one as it does not require a command word to activate it, merely a twist). He also has a sizable collection of potions, scrolls and spellbooks (currently eight of the latter). Until recently, he owned a Folding Boat, but this met its sad demise during a lethal struggle with the Tilloniti Elite Guard. Another of his most valued possessions is one of four (now three?) pairs of Boots of Elvenkind.

Deeds of Note: Souriin bravely saved the group with whom he adventures from the clutches of Athalar, and in doing so lost the Staff of the Magi. He once dived, without hesitating a second, straight into the depths of a shark pool to save the life of Joranth Bumblefoot, who had fallen in and could not swim. Souriin also received a Lordship from the City of Rotan, for his part in the rescue of Crown Prince Anwell from Yaridar the Eye-Tyrant.

Next issue: In next issue's In Character, we will take a look into the mind of a Corellian smuggler.

Science Fiction South Africa's annual science fiction convention will be taking place on September 20 & 21 in Wits Senate House. On Friday evening, two movies will be shown (Buckaroo Banzai and The Thing) and on Saturday there will be a choice of five films, and two short talks on Sci-Fi topics. The movies for Saturday are Tremors, Space Raiders, Slipstream, Cherry 2000 and Repo Man. The cost for the entire event is R 35.00, or you can pay per event.

Contact Gail (805-1157) or Norman (704-2756) for more information.