Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Fight On! #4

In case you missed it, Fight On! Issue #4 is now available in both PRINT and PDF format from Lulu.

I received my print copy from Lulu in a timely fashion. I cannot stop appreciating the print quality and shipping/packaging of orders from Lulu. This is the fourth issue of Fight On! I have ordered from Lulu, and all have been received in perfect condition thanks to the foam sleeves and tight cardboard packing. I've had similar results with the S&W Core Rules, S&W White Box and Knockspell Issue #1 from Mythmere Games. These books look like the cream of the crop from the game store when you pick through the volumes on the shelf and grab the "best" one. I'm not the only one who does that, right?

Fight On! continues to expand in content, and overall quality. My many thanks to Iggy and Calithena for starting this project last year. I cannot believe that the upcoming fifth issue will be the 1st Anniversary of this great little fanzine. When I say "little" I use the term as one of affectation, because this latest offering boasts 122 pages of gaming goodness.

Issue #4 is dedicated to Dave Hargrave. I was so excited when I first learned of this that I half wrote an Arduin adventure called The Glittering Sands of Rozoae. Then I learned that Emperor's Choice wasn't going to simply give copywright freedom to every single author. So that alien-planet wilderness adventure featuring Trelves, Ta'vreen, Thaelastra and escaped slave player characters is sitting idle somewhere on my hard drive. One of these days...

Nonetheless, Issue #4 is packed with articles from many well-respected authors, including plenty of names you're all familiar with by now. Here's the Table of Contents:

Table of Contents
Delvers Delve (David Bowman)………………………3
Silver Knights of the Eld (Beaudry and Calithena)….…7
Knights & Knaves (Kesher)………….………………10
House of the Axe (Calithena)……………………...…12
Random Rooms (Michael Curtis)…………………......37
Dungeons and Librarians (Jason Vasché)…………….38
Dungeon Home Remedies (Jeff Rients)……...………41
The Spring Temple of Ai (Gabor Lux)………...……..42
Education of a Magic-User (Will Douglas)……...……45
The Tower and Spells of Duvan’Ku (J. Raggi IV)….....46
Creepies & Crawlies (Jeff Rients)…………………….52
Ghost Stories (Geoffrey O. Dale)…………………....54
Vault of the Magic Goddess (Matthew Riedel)……….57
Tables for Fables (Age of Fable)……………………..65
Proclamations of the Fomalhaut Oracle (G. Lux)……66
Magical Weapon Drawbacks (Wayne Rossi)………….68
Carousing Mishaps (Jeff Rients)……………………...69
Fungoid Gardens of the Bone Sorcerer (G.McKinney)70
These Mean Streets (Baz Blatt)……………………....79
Oceanian Legends (Del L. Beaudry)………………….91
The Airships of Mistworld (Steve Marsh)…………….95
The Kitsunemori Campaign (Alex Schroeder)………..96
Chrysolia (Monty St. John)……………………….…100
The Darkness Beneath (James Maliszewski)………...106
Merlin’s Mystical Mirror (Jeff Rients)……………….117
Guest Editorial (Calithena)………………………….118
Artifacts, Adjuncts, & Oddments (J. Raggi IV)……...120

The artwork is inspiring with a great range of styles, and is credited in the issue as follows:

Front Cover by Steve Zieser. Back Cover by Kevin Mayle (kevinmayle.netaidz.com/main.php). Fight On! and Erol Otus Logos by Jeff Rients. Dave Hargrave photo by Lance Mazmanian. Knights & Knaves and Creepies & Crawlies logos by Lee Barber. Interior artwork and cartography by Alex Schroeder(3,13,15,17,22,26,33,36,46,75, 96,97,98,99), Steve Zieser (4,43,69), Otherworld Miniatures (5,44), Lee Barber (ghosttower.crithitcomics.com) (7,21), Emperor’s Choice (Greg Espinoza 8, John Usiak 18,55, Brad “Morno” Schenk 19, Josephine St. John 100), Kesher (10,11,87,95), motorvinen (12,24,44), Tony Rosten (16), C. Thayer (katana2665.deviantart.com) (22,111), Vincent Baker (29,34), Patrick Farley (31,36), Gabor Lux (42,66,67), Will Douglas (45), Laura Kristiina Jalo (50), Pat Wheeler (52,53), Livio Andreatta (57,59,60,62), Matthew Riedel (58), Age of Fable (65), Ben Monroe (68), Geoffrey McKinney (70,72), Kelvin Green (junkopia.net/kelvinsdirtybits/main.html) (73,75, 76,115), FuFu Frauenwahl (fufufrauenwahl.com) (77,78), Baz Blatt (84), Del Beaudry (91,93), Robert S. Conley (106), James Maliszewski (108). We also used public domain clipart from karenswhimsy.com (11,39,41, 64,82,92,121).

While I have not had time to digest the ten dozen pages of old school gaming text, I am certainly looking forward to it.

~Sham, Quixotic Referee

2 comments:

Chris said...

What? Who? "Fight On! issue #4" you say? Why would I want such a thing? I am offended by the sheer effrontery of your suggestion that this 'electronic publication' might be efficacious in enhancing my gaming pleasure. It sounds sordid and decidedly French, and I cannot in good conscience countenance such devilry as books that travel via the telegraph. *harrumph*

I kid. Downloading as we speak. The first 3 were like a breath of fresh air.

That's me set for reading material this eve. ;-)

Sham aka Dave said...

I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I've only read a few bits, but I really like Calithena's Arduin adventure so far.