A Snapshot from 1988

This is a repost from a Facebook page I write for, but I am posting it here because it is related to the theme of this Blog.

Hello Dragon fans. Sorry for the long abscents, but life, what can we do about it?

I hear, from the bottom of my well, that gaming history is in vogue right now (though taking advice about what is in vogue from a guy who spends his time reading 30+ year old magazines for pleasure probably isn’t the keenest of ideas. Come to think of it taking such advice from someone who says keen is probably horrible idea).

But with history in mind I suggest you check out the article “Role-play Review” by Ken Rolston in issue 129 from Jan 1988 (pg. 82).

Here, Rolston discusses early FRPG (Fantasy Role Playing Game) campaign settings and how for many years TSR dropped the ball on then. He goes on to discuss the history of TSR campaigns and point out why they lagged behind competition like Glorantha.

His major complaints about previous TSR offerings were either a lack of support (Greyhawk) or too narrow a focus (Dragonlance).

In the review section he covers two current at the time TSR campaigns, The Principalities of Glantri (GAZ3) and the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting box set, and how they broke away from the trend above. (While he has some critique for FRCS, Rolston does not cite the above issues.)

He heaps on praises for the Gazateer series for offering breadth of play through variety, but does point out that it is not a typical AD&D experience. (A whole other article would be necessary to really discuss the nuance differences between D&D and AD&D).

For FR he is especially pleased with how open it is, providing a framework for a DMs own work, while having plenty of details to loot for plot hooks. He does mention how some of it doesn’t line up well with AD&D’s established rules, and how some details were a touch scant, but overall it is a positive review.

This article is useful to the game historian, because it comes at a pivotal time in the history of D&D. These two supplements are going to be at the launch of TSR going into a heavy campaign setting mode, and getting a snapshot of the game at that time is very informative.