Zine-O-Morph Developments

The other night I did as I planned and sat down with Photoshop to design a logo. I did come up with a few options, so I ran them by the wife and we agreed on one of them. However, I’m going to look around for more interesting fonts, since I kind of had a specific look in mind when I started out, and nothing quite fits that. Of course, I could draw a logo free hand and go from there…

Anyways, the first issue was coming along nicely. I had almost the entire section on the new monster/race done. Then I went to the OSR forum I frequent, and mentioned in a thread that one guy’s question had inspired a huge project. His question was about Drow in Basic D&D, and I had offered a brief write-up, based on my own knowledge and experience, and it had got me to thinking. So, with that germ of an idea in mind, I had set about making the first issue of my Fanzine about the underdark, with a special focus on the Drow, using the B/X rules.

Well, I was informed that Labyrinth Lord already has a “basic era” entry for them. I was a bit crestfallen at first, but then realized that my effort was much more ambitious than LL’s. That being said, I didn’t want to just rehash things, so I switched gears. I yanked that entire section out, and began working on a completely new and (hopefully) original underdark race.

But, what to do with all of the effort I had put into my variation of the Drow? Why, offer it for free, of course! So, if you’re so inclined, you can download a copy here (and it will soon be linked on the My Products page above). I think it’s nicely formatted, and uses the classic Bill Willingham images we all know and love.

My mind is also looking at the future of the zine. Since this first issue is mainly about low-level fantasy, I thought I would switch gears for issue #2, and go Sci Fi. And what better take on that for an ex-grunt like me than Military Sci Fi? So, in a few months (or sooner, who knows?), issue #2 will hit with all kinds of goodies about running a military game.

The question is, what game? Each issue will be focused on the rules of a particular game or edition of a game. So, what Sci Fi game should I use as a foundation? I’m inclined to use Star Frontiers, since I’m familiar with it. But, there are already two excellent SF-themed zines out there (Frontier Explorer and Star Frontiersman), so I may look elsewhere. The problem is that I haven’t gotten to play any SF RPG’s in so long, I’m not sure where to go with it.

But, I have some time to think about it. First things first...