Imagine Magazine Issue 2 Review

By Christopher Bishop

Imagine Magazine. Ahhh, the golden years of 1983, when roleplaying games were still in their
first vital decade of growth. Thrust up from a cottage industry one off to a somewhat controversial icon
overnight, Imagine was the UK's answer to Dragon Magazine, focusing both on local gaming centers in
the UK, as well as having gamers classified sections in which gamers would advertise their games at
their local friendly gaming stores, or in some cases in their homes themselves. Ahhh, the trusting 80's
where you weren't afraid to publish your address in a global magazine and invite people over to roll
bones.
This issue of Imagine is arguably one of the most iconic of its 31 issue run. Its main theme was
the Barbarian, a class being developed by Gary Gygax for his own gaming table. It also focuses
heavily upon Gary coming to the UK and attending GamesFair 83. It is truly interesting to read
through the written account of Gary's speech there. It is very clear at that time, he had huge plans for
the future of AD&D. He discusses revising the basic and expert set and that a companion volume
would soon follow (Hello BECMI). He also mentions that plans are afoot for considerable additions to
the advanced game in the form of Player's Handbook II, Dungeon Master's Guide II, and several new
spells and classes. One thing particularly interesting was the discussion of transferring the psionic rules
from AD&D to Star Frontiers, where Gary felt they would be more at home. I have read in a few
different forum posts by Gary in the past how he was never truly happy with the psionics system,. I
guess that was Gary's Cantina scene.
Here is where I will go out on a limb. As a father, who games with his children, I have created
classes, spells and items that clearly were not intended to balance off against other items already in
place. This is done because as a parent, you see a spark of interest in something you care about from
your child, and often times you want to blow on that spark to make it a warm happy fire of love for the
same thing you do. It is a way of bonding. When my son wanted to play a Necromancer of Nerull,
well guess what http://aspiretobuild.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-necromancer.html was created. The
more I read this iteration of the Barbarian class, the more its over the top nature felt like a father's gift
to his son. Of course only Ernie knows the truth of that or not, but one would suspect the moniker
Ernie the Barbarian was fairly earned.
When examining the barbarian class presented here vs the Unearthed Arcana version there are
some pretty wild differences. Barbarians used a different dice method for their attributes. Strength was
the best 3 rolls out of 9d6...Wait WHAT~!. That is right, originally Gary had you rolling 9d6 and
picking the best 3. Talk about a min-maxers dream!! Dexterity and Constitution followed the same
pattern. Clearly Gary had Conan in mind and wanted to make sure that Barbarians under the AD&D
mechanics would be quite capable of all the daring feats of skullduggery and adventure Conan was
capable of. They used the same D12 for hit points, received a +1 bonus for every point over 14 in
dexterity to their ac similar to monks wearing lighter armor. They were able to climb walls like no
ones business and in familiar surroundings could hide like a thief 3 levels higher than their rank. Talk
about a powerhouse. On top of this, we get our first taste of skills being expanded upon, and frankly
the skill system in this issue seems a little better explained than the version presented within Unearthed
Arcana.
A fantasy themed horrorscope on page 20 and 21 gives some interesting little fortune based
plot hooks, but what really catches the eye is the intricate artwork weaved in to the 2 page document. It
could easily be used to provide a fortune tellers take on future events. Take for example Ready'reat
(Nov 23 Dec 20) We are advised to Make new friends, but do not upset old buddies. Attempt to
contact a long-lost (dead?) pal from years past. Beware of foul creatures. Pray regularly for guidance.
The fun that could be spun off of that!
On page 23 we are given an adventure directly tied to the barbarian class earlier called For the
honour of the tribe It was written by Graeme Morris, and I truly hope the author is continuing to write
adventures because this was a really top notch affair. The premise is the players are all part of the local
barbarian tribe. They eschew the use of magic of any kind but they do have a spiritual bond through
their shaman with a hammer made from lodestone. They believe it is sacred to their tribe and essential
to their tribes honour. A decade or so in the past a wizard came to the ruins of an ancient tower and
renovated it, bringing in his various cronies to help him much to the discomfort of the tribe. They do
manage to make a sort of uncomfortable piece until as fate would have it a magical plan the Mage
wants to complete requires the use of a lodestone. Low and behold, a sloppy theft attempt from the
tribe by one of his lackeys sets the players on a quest to reclaim the tribes sacred relic by whatever
means are needed. This adventure is honestly perfect in size and scope for a convention. It can easily
be said that besides being an absolute joy to read, it is a piece of our gaming history. Buying the pdf
for the adventure alone would be worth it.
One thing that came up a lot in both letters to the editor and in just opinion pieces was the need
to constantly verify if a choice was canon or not with the rules as Gygax saw them. From reading the
forum posts at troll lords old forums as well as transcripts from Dragonsfoot, we know this has always
been Gary's curse to often say, your tables your rules, nothing is canon, its just a guideline. The Dispel
Confusion section is filled with just these sorts of interactions and quite a good chuckle can be had
reading over folks questions. Various comics fill this issue with great artwork such as Rubic of
Moggedom, The Sword of Alabron and the Illusionary Scripts section provides D&D brain teasers that
could quite possibly make excellent puzzles to throw in your game.
There is even a great article on figure painting. The tips and tricks are actually quite well
described, as miniature painting for RPG's was still in its infancy at this point in comparison to the War
Gaming arena where it had been present from the start.
In summary, Imagine magazine #2 is truly a time vault of gaming history, where we can see
what might have been, hear the voices of our forefathers in gaming, and in my case anyway drool over
product advertisements for goods and services not as easy to come by these days. Well worth the price
of admission.

Keep Rolling them Bones!

Chris