122 lines
7.7 KiB
Plaintext
122 lines
7.7 KiB
Plaintext
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.H1
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Escape to the Green Star!
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.ad b
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.sp -.5cm
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.2C
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.PP
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These are strange times indeed. Our world is changing at an astonishing pace. Sometimes I wonder if we'll even notice when we have reached the postapocalyptical reality of last centuries Cyberpunk novels, or if we're in fact already there. Simply looking at the date seems to confirm, we're already there: it's 2025. While this oddly sounds like the present, think about 2027, or 2031. Those numbers surely sound like Science Fiction, don't they?
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.PP
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Looking at the state of the world we're also not there just yet it seems. While systems are failing on many levels, and the horrors of war, totalitarianism and ecological disaster are on every newsfeed, all is not lost! I am sitting on an overcrowded high speed train as I'm writing this, and I am quite relieved to notice how the vast majority of folks are respectful and kind to each other \[em] accomodating even. A young woman collapsed right in front of me some moments ago due to standing for hours in cramped quarters with bad air, and everyone rushed for help at once. Someone gave their fresh bottle of water, others pitched in with some sugary food. Smiles and thank yous were exchanged, when she was well again. Let's keep it that way! Let's be kind, caring and thoughtful, and let's always take care to
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.I listen
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to each other. Keeping up healthy social networks is an important part in this, and that is, among other things what
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.I Grenzland
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is about. This is best exemplified in this issues
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.I "Mini-OSR-Con Manifesto" .
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.PP
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Then again, I'm also quite exhausted. Not only because I ran a very time consuming domain game with 12 independent factions moving about a map, that maybe was to large, but also because my work life in those last few months has been more taxing then ever before. Costs are rising due to inflation on the one hand and the financial state of our social insurance system is worsening on the other.
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.PP
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So with all this in mind, who would blame us for indulging in escapism from time to time? On my last summer vacation I read two novels of Lin Carter's Green Star series. These stories couldn't be more fitting for for an introduction into this issues theme
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.I "Science Fantasy" :
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A young man, bound to his bed by sickness and disability, dreams himself off into the fantastic world of the Green Star, where whole cities exist on the branches of enormous trees. Strange wild animals roam the vast canopy, and what monstrosities wait in the swampy darkness miles down below nobody knows. The inhabitants of this world are illustrious nobles, brave warriors and cunning adventurers. There are air cars and huge dragonflies serve as flying steeds. But is this young man only dreaming? It almost seems like he has the power to psionically travel to the Green Star, as he witnesses the intervening space and describes the approach to his planet of destination, before he is then
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.I reincarnated
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into an inhabitant of the Green Star.
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.PP
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What an awesome role playing setting I thought, when reading this, every page seemingly oozing D&D. I was almost convinced, that these novels could have only been written after experiencing a good fantasy role playing game, but apparently it's the other way round. The first book of the series was published two years before D&D \[em] it's the Zeitgeist. Dave Arneson's origin story of the Blackmoor Campaign as reproduced in
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.I "Blackmoor Foundations"
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and conceived about 1971, tells of the author himself being victim in a plane crash that weirdly takes him through time and space to the
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.I "Black Moore"
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where fabulous adventures are being had.
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.I "Science Fantasy"
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is at the heart and origin of our whole fantasy role playing genre. So let's see what this issue has to contribute.
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.PP
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Starting us off are some nice rules for implementing laser pistols and plasma cannons within the bounds of classic role playing rules. Let me say that at some point these should show up in every serious classic fantasy campaign. Next up I just had to hit the replay button for a large random table, I previously published on my blog. I feel it is very fitting and it also pretty much illustrates what I understand Science Fantasy to be.
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.PP
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I have already aluded to the
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.I "OSR Mini Con Manifesto" ,
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coming up next. While it is not about Science Fantasy in particular, to my mind it is the centrepiece of this issue none the less. I wish this text a much wider circulation than this humble fanzine will likely ever achieve, and I hope to see many Mini Cons happen. It would be nice if some of those would be reported back to these pages!
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.PP
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Jonas Richter was so kind to lend us some random tables conceived by the good people of
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.I steinbru.ch ,
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giving a variety of useful sci-fi technology and space ships which are of course crucial to the genre. But not only that, Jonas also offers
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a piece about uplifted and technologically augmented dinosaurs - awesome and very classic. Is this bordering on yet another subgenre: 1980s Sword and Planet as best exemplified by
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.I "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" ?
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.PP
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Next up you'll have a peek of what a faction in our recently ended diplomacy game looked like. Only this one is not your usual fantasy heroes but proper science fiction types, straight from the
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.I Traveller
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universe. This "extraterrestial faction" as their player put it, is statted to be used with the
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.I Chainmail
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rules. Adapting to those rules couldn't have been simpler. While 1971's Chainmail didn't mention science fiction at all, it's campaign framework expansion rules published in 1974, better known as original
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.I "Dungeons & Dragons"
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did in it's Volume I, Men & Magic:
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.QS
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[...] the scope need not be restricted to the medieval; it can stretch from the prehistoric to the imagined future [...]
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.QE
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.PP
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Regarding magic Alex has a book to recommend, and while
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.I "Space Age Sorcery"
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certainly is an inspiring read, just getting a glimpse of those spell names is so evocative already. Don't
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.I "Animate Machinery"
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in conjunction with
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.I "Destroy Robot"
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already sound like a science fantasy adventure story?
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.PP
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Finally I recount the Grenzland OD&D Campaign and it's closing chapters. This campaign has been going on for eight years now, and I strongly feel it is time to bring it to a close. Personally I feel I need a longer break from running this kind of game, and at the same time I'm eager to start something new.
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.PP
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Next issue
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.I "Domain Games II"
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will have more on the faction game we ran augmenting the campaign for it's last season and I am planning on publishing the final state of the Grenzland campaign. You'll likely find an ad about it in our next issue!
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.PP
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Speaking of ads: while we do again have some pieces of love in our current issue, the idea to offer free advertising to professional companies just doesn't seem to work. My suspicion is, professionals would only be interested in it, if it cost them some money. So I'm thinking about that now. Maybe we could have the print run financed by ads?
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.PP
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However this will work out, I am already looking forward to the next issue, due in september - let's hope for numerous contributions. But first have fun reading this issue of
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.I Grenzland .
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It offers all the good stuff: lasers, weird landscapes, star ships, dinosaurs, aliens and space magic, it's all Science Fantasy!
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Domain Games II
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Die kommende Ausgabe ist für
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September 2025 geplant.
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.br
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.B
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Beiträge, Leserbriefe
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und Inserate an:
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.R
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.br
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grenzland@betola.de
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.br
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.B Einsendeschluss :
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15. August 2025
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.br
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.B "Gedrucktes Heft bestellen bis" :
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.br
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31. August 2025
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.B Und:
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wir brauchen
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Themenvorschläge
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für Heft 7!
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