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Berserker

6 iron spikes ·

2025/01/24

(White Dwarf #19)Roger Moore brings life to the Monster Manual Berserker, turning it into a playable class. There’s not much here to be honest and it probably won't make the cut. The Barbarian from WD #4 & #12 feels more fleshed out. The article introduces a berserker cleric which suffers the same downsides as the berserker only worse - losing their ability to cast spells while berserking.What does the Berserker get?HP: d8+2, more dependable hp than a regular fighter.Battle Lust: Grants either

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The Jester

6 iron spikes ·

2025/01/24

(Dragon #60 edited and republished in Best of Dragon, Vol. IV.)I think Roger Moore has a good grasp of the game and his articles tend to reflect this.I’ve included this class in my “articles worth salvaging” list because a jaded player of mine wanted to give them a go. White Dwarf classes were intended to be played where Dragon magazine took seriously their claim that these were NPC classes only. Unfortunately, the Jester skews heavily NPC.What does the Jester get?HP & Saves: same as a

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An Introduction to Dungeons & Dragons: Part II...

6 iron spikes ·

2025/01/24

(White Dwarf #24)Lew’s series is aimed at beginners. Is it good advice, and does it offer something for veteran DMs?What’s it about?Lew points out the DM sets the game’s tone and outlines styles on a spectrum: simulation, wargame, absurd, and novel. He advises players to seek a different DM if their style doesn’t suit them.He dismisses simulationists, arguing D&D is fundamentally a wargame. Absurd elements, creatures like “spelling bees”, are fine in moderation. Most games fall between wargame

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Psionics is different . . . And that’s putting it...

6 iron spikes ·

2025/01/24

(Dragon #78)Dragon #78 is the psionic issue and in this article Arthur Collins outlines psionics and their mechanics.What’s it about?Arthur explains that psionics originate from the mind, unlike magic, which draws power from the multiverse. He highlights the randomness of psionics—their availability, level, and chance of acquisition—justifying their placement in the appendix. He controversially allows all characters, regardless of race, a chance at psionics.Mechanics are detailed, starting with

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Half-Orcs

6 iron spikes ·

2025/01/24

(Dragon #62)Roger wraps up his exploration of PHB races with half-orcs, focusing on orc society and how half-orcs fit in. This approach makes this article already more useful than his piece on half-elves.What’s it about?Orcs are social Darwinists, where only the strong and clever thrive. They must survive in harsh environments, forcing the weak into servitude or eliminating them to preserve resources. Friendship and love are seen as weaknesses to exploit. Orcs are made this way by their gods. Orc

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The elven point of view

6 iron spikes ·

2025/01/24

(Dragon #60)Roger Moore explores elves, straying further than usual from Tolkien-inspired depictions. Again he tries to blend the PHB, MM and DMG rules into the elven story with mixed results.What’s it about?Elves are defined by their 1,600-year lifespan, witnessing civilizations rise and fall. Time is irrelevant to them—there’s no need to rush. They accept death as a natural part of life and are unfazed by the mortality of others.The article stumbles when it tries to rationalize game mechanics into

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The halfling point of view

6 iron spikes ·

2025/01/24

(Dragon #59)Roger Moore credits Master of Middle Earth as a source for fleshing out the races in his "Point of View" articles. Are his halflings just hobbits?What’s it about?Roger weaves rules into lore while exploring halfling society. Fun fact: they’re called halflings because they’re half the size of humans. With a favorable racial reaction table, they get along with everyone, which explains their survival in a harsh world—they have strong allies. If you know the Shire, you’ll recognize much of

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The dwarven point of view

6 iron spikes ·

2025/01/24

(Dragon #58)Roger Moore delves into dwarven psychology and society, though much of it will feel familiar if you know The Lord of the Rings or D&D lore.What’s it saying?Roger explores dwarven life so you can better get in their heads. He explains that two-thirds of dwarves are male, and most don’t marry. Dwarves have a strong work ethic and find happiness in their labor. Marriage ends adventuring careers, as it’s seen as abandoning family duties. Surplus males often turn to adventuring or war,

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An introduction to Dungeons & Dragons - Part IV:...

6 iron spikes ·

2025/01/24

(White Dwarf #26)The fourth entry in Lew’s series explores Fighters and Thieves. Without the distraction of spells, I hoped for practical advice—and Lew delivers.What’s it about?Lew grimly notes fighters are often casualties. He envisions a 12-person party with five fighters: 2-3 up front (preferably dwarves) and bow-wielders behind them. Elf fighters are described as rare, and the strongest low-level fighters pointed out as multi-classed. He recommends proficiency in swords (for better odds of

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Arms at the Ready

6 iron spikes ·

2025/01/24

(White Dwarf #31 & #33)Lew combines the Weapon vs. AC charts with attack matrices to create a streamlined weapon table for each weapon.What’s it about?This idea addresses a common issue: many players avoid using Weapon vs. AC tables because they’re cumbersome and slow play. The dauntingly large tables often feel like more trouble than they’re worth. Lew’s solution simplifies this by letting you use your standard THAC0 for unarmored monsters and referencing his weapon handout for armored

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Stop, Thief!!

6 iron spikes ·

2025/01/24

(White Dwarf #45)This short article by Marcus L. Rowland unpacks the thief's toolkit.What’s it about?Marcus examines each item in the kit, discussing its weight, size, and potential use as an improvised weapon. He assigns the entire toolkit a weight of 12.4 lbs, filling a gap in AD&D rules, and categorizes specialized tools based on their use, such as burglary tools like crowbars and trap detection tools like hand drills.The article offers some rules for having the right tool; it increases the

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Underestimating Druids (is a bad practice)

6 iron spikes ·

2025/01/24

(Dragon #119)Carl Sargent, co-author of The Enemy Within, explores Druids in AD&D. Is his advice worth sharing?What’s it about?Druids are often overlooked, seen as weaker clerics, with their strict Neutral alignment a dealbreaker for some. Carl counters this by highlighting their fast advancement, more spells and faster spell progression, and utility as backup fighters with spells like animal friendship and speak with animals. The lack of healing spells is overcome upon reaching 2nd level. They

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Bandits!

6 iron spikes ·

2025/01/24

(Dragon #63)Roger E. Moore and Thomas Armstrong bring us a fighter-thief hybrid with plenty of outdoors skills, available to humans, half-orcs and half-elves. Being useful outdoors is great but does the Bandit pull its weight underground?What does a bandit get?Fighter Subclass. All the fighter goodies including multiple attacks. Limited to chainmail and medium weapons (no polearms or two-handed swords).Surprise = Best Scout. 4-in-6 chance to surprise enemies and only a 1-in-6 chance to be

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And now, the psionicist

6 iron spikes ·

2025/01/24

(Dragon #78)I’m one of the rare fans of psionics. In my current game, there’s a psionic ranger who didn’t hit the magic 100 attack power needed to psionically blast normals—a shame. The odds of being psionic and having enough power to regularly impact the game are slim. However, this class guarantees a psionic character and a chance to explore the subsystem.What does a Psionicist get?Odd HP. Starts with a d10 for hit dice, decreasing to d4 by level 7. This feels like a gimmick—just use d6

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Lizardmen as Player Characters

6 iron spikes ·

2025/01/24

(White Dwarf #26)Lizardmen appeared as playable races in Quag Keep and TSR’s Rogues Gallery, but no official rules emerged. Roger E. Moore and Michael Brown offered their take in White Dwarf #26. Initially underwhelmed, I later saw potential.What does a lizardman get?Scaly hide: Natural AC 5 (improved to 4 with a shield). OK early on but falls off quick.Swim speed and breath holding: Swim speed of 12’ and the ability to hold their breath for 10 minutes.Unarmed combat superiority: Lizardmen’s height

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Merchants

6 iron spikes ·

2025/01/24

(White Dwarf #21)A charismatic "party face" with verbal, spell-like abilities that shift focus from combat. While bards offer similar charm-related powers, they take longer to develop. Dwarves, elves, gnomes, half-elves, and halflings can be merchants.What does the Merchant get?Item Discounts: At level 1, goods cost 10–40% less, which helps early on (e.g., pooling funds for armor) but has diminishing impact later unless used for major expenses like keep construction.Languages: High Intelligence

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My Life as a Werebear

6 iron spikes ·

2025/01/24

(White Dwarf #17, re-published in Flipping and Turning #6) The DMG (p.21) broached the idea of playing monsters, did their best to discourage it and left us to figure it out on our own. Writers for Dragon and White Dwarf were amateurs like us, though some aligned with Classic Adventure Game principles (as I understand them) more than others. Lew Pulsipher stands out as a writer with a solid grasp of the rules, and I tend to trust his articles. He wrote with authority, evoking a tone not unlike

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The Barbarian

6 iron spikes ·

2025/01/23

(White Dwarf #4 for OD&D and #12 for AD&D)Early White Dwarf predates AD&D's launch, with issues around #10 tracking its emergence. The ideas at this time feel fresh and exciting. Thanks to Attronarch who pointed out the class is compiled here.What does the Barbarian get?HP: d8+1, solid for a fighter class.Cleric saves (at 4 levels higher): Technically it only bumps the cleric save up a bracket but feels overpowered, giving barbarians the best saves in the game.Fast leveling: hits level 2

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Rogue Trader - Return to Station Anotla - Escher v...

6 iron spikes ·

2019/11/25

Mr Papafakis arranged and GM'd a game of Rogue Trader while Tytus was in the country with his excellent Escher models.++++ Imperial Record 1A 2019.11 +++++ Imperial propaganda held that Anotla station and its surrounds had been purged for a heretical misspelling of 'Emperor' in documents accompanying the monthly tithe. The truth was more sinister. Imperial scientists had been conducting warp experiments that had ended in catastrophe. As a result the site had been cleansed. For years the

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Rogue Trader - Incident at Imperial Research Station...

6 iron spikes ·

2019/09/28

Mr Papafakis is back in the country so we gamed. The hastily improvised scenario concerned an Imperial research station that had been razed by xenos raiders and in its death throes had released a spherical warp storm. This would move randomly warping all those who come too close. If marines suffered the sphere's baleful glare there was the chance that both their bodies and minds would be warped causing them to switch allegiance. The fall of the research station and subsequentwarp 'leak' was the

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